209215 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.87 AU to 1.11 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 359.3 days. Discovered 21 November 2003 by Spacewatch. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.032 AU
- True anomaly
- 242.69°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.654 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 20m 54s
- Declination
- -00° 37′ 29″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.65 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 36.01° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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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
- 0.989 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1213
- Inclination
- 2.56°
- Orbital period
- 359.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.869 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.109 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 40.76°
- Argument of periapsis
- 226.46°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 8.6 LD
- 0.0221 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.125
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 59
- Data arc
- 6.35 years
- First observed
- 25 October 2002
- Last observed
- 2 March 2009
- Residual RMS
- 0.59 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 13 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.3
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Spacewatch
- Discovery date
- 21 November 2003
- Discovery site
- Kitt Peak
Also known as 2003 WP25
Close approaches 100 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2060-10-18 17:12 UTC close approach of 209215. Catalogue miss distance 164.0 LD · 6.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2060-10-15 to 2060-10-21, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2060-10-18 17:12:00 | Earth | 0.4213 AU | 164.0 LD | 16.8 km/s |
| 2061-10-15 04:17:00 | Earth | 0.3253 AU | 126.6 LD | 13.9 km/s |
| 2062-10-11 20:27:00 | Earth | 0.2296 AU | 89.3 LD | 11 km/s |
| 2063-10-08 17:16:00 | Earth | 0.1352 AU | 52.6 LD | 8.2 km/s |
| 2064-10-05 09:11:00 | Earth | 0.0484 AU | 18.8 LD | 5.5 km/s |
| 2065-10-07 06:24:00 | Earth | 0.0391 AU | 15.2 LD | 3.4 km/s |
| 2066-08-19 09:28:00 | Earth | 0.1159 AU | 45.1 LD | 3 km/s |
| 2066-11-09 04:29:00 | Earth | 0.1001 AU | 39.0 LD | 3.3 km/s |
| 2067-07-16 04:20:00 | Earth | 0.1441 AU | 56.1 LD | 4.2 km/s |
| 2067-12-07 21:50:00 | Earth | 0.1276 AU | 49.7 LD | 3.9 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB