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Asteroid Near-Earth

262623

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262623 (2006 WY2)

262623 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.66 AU to 1.31 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 356.1 days; it is about 0.76 km across. Discovered 17 November 2006 by Siding Spring Survey. Orbit from the JPL solution of 16 January 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.045 AU
True anomaly
240.61°
Distance from Earth
1.519 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 262623 — 1.045 AU from the Sun 262623
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 262623 is 1.519 AU from Earth today (12.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 16m 30s
Declination
+11° 22′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.11° — 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.

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
0.983 AU
Eccentricity
0.3329
Inclination
27.55°
Orbital period
356.1 days
Perihelion
0.656 AU
Aphelion
1.311 AU
Longitude of ascending node
99.83°
Argument of periapsis
159.98°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 98.8 LD
0.2538 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.019

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
952
Data arc
15.95 years
First observed
17 November 2006
Last observed
31 October 2022
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 January 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.38 km
Rotation period
16.3 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.122
Absolute magnitude (H)
18.64

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Siding Spring Survey
Discovery date
17 November 2006
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 2006 WY2

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 166 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 262623 at 2045-09-18 09:46 UTC Sun 186.3 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km 2045-09-18 09:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2045-09-18 09:46 UTC close approach of 262623. Catalogue miss distance 186.3 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2045-09-15 to 2045-09-21, 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. At closest approach the object is south 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
2035-11-16 00:18:00 Venus 0.0895 AU 34.8 LD 19 km/s
2045-09-18 09:46:00 Earth 0.4786 AU 186.3 LD 18.6 km/s
2046-08-29 19:24:00 Earth 0.4224 AU 164.4 LD 18.9 km/s
2046-11-01 14:43:00 Earth 0.4838 AU 188.3 LD 12.4 km/s
2047-08-12 16:34:00 Earth 0.379 AU 147.5 LD 19.5 km/s
2047-11-24 00:09:00 Earth 0.4611 AU 179.5 LD 14.1 km/s
2048-07-27 02:59:00 Earth 0.3521 AU 137.0 LD 20.2 km/s
2048-12-04 16:21:00 Earth 0.4319 AU 168.1 LD 14.6 km/s
2049-07-12 07:08:00 Earth 0.3443 AU 134.0 LD 20.7 km/s
2049-12-14 04:08:00 Earth 0.398 AU 154.9 LD 14.8 km/s

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

Sources