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Asteroid Near-Earth

188174

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188174 (2002 JC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.138 AU
True anomaly
178.01°
Distance from Earth
2.05 AU
As of
17 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 188174 — 1.138 AU from the Sun 188174
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 188174 is 2.05 AU from Earth today (17.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 54m 06s
Declination
+06° 41′ 53″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.24° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
0.819 AU
Eccentricity
0.3907
Inclination
40.86°
Orbital period
270.7 days
Perihelion
0.499 AU
Aphelion
1.139 AU
Longitude of ascending node
69.38°
Argument of periapsis
306.91°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 35.8 LD
0.092 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.906

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
623
Data arc
34.11 years
First observed
16 May 1991
Last observed
24 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 June 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
2.47 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.48

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
1 May 2002
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2002 JC

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 27 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 188174 at 2031-06-02 23:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-06-02 23:04 UTC close approach of 188174. Catalogue miss distance 73.4 LD · 2.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-30 to 2031-06-05, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 73.4 LD · 2.82 × 10⁷ km 2031-06-02 23:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-06-02 23:04 UTC close approach of 188174. Catalogue miss distance 73.4 LD · 2.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-30 to 2031-06-05, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-06-02 23:04:00 Earth 0.1886 AU 73.4 LD 20.4 km/s
2034-05-26 09:37:00 Earth 0.099 AU 38.5 LD 23.1 km/s
2054-05-28 01:08:00 Earth 0.092 AU 35.8 LD 22.4 km/s
2074-05-29 15:57:00 Earth 0.102 AU 39.7 LD 21.8 km/s
2077-05-21 08:19:00 Earth 0.1816 AU 70.7 LD 25.4 km/s
2094-05-31 12:09:00 Earth 0.1304 AU 50.7 LD 21.1 km/s
2097-05-23 11:54:00 Earth 0.1413 AU 55.0 LD 24.4 km/s
2114-06-03 00:59:00 Earth 0.1634 AU 63.6 LD 20.7 km/s
2117-05-26 08:40:00 Earth 0.1117 AU 43.5 LD 23.6 km/s
2137-05-28 04:09:00 Earth 0.0939 AU 36.5 LD 22.8 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources