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Centaur

380282

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380282 (2002 AO148)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.672 AU
True anomaly
255.03°
Distance from Earth
5.156 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 380282 — 5.672 AU from the Sun 380282
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 380282 is 5.156 AU from Earth today (42.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 07m 57s
Declination
+43° 42′ 16″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
5.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
117.02° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
5.688 AU
Eccentricity
0.2682
Inclination
19.13°
Orbital period
13.57 years
Perihelion
4.163 AU
Aphelion
7.214 AU
Longitude of ascending node
328.44°
Argument of periapsis
206.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 1,238.2 LD
3.1816 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.818

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
893
Data arc
24.04 years
First observed
23 December 2001
Last observed
7 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.1

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
11 January 2002
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2002 AO148

Centaur

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-03-30 16:02:00 Juptr 1.6405 AU 638.4 LD 7 km/s
2096-12-05 13:04:00 Juptr 1.6173 AU 629.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2112-01-09 18:00:00 Juptr 1.8265 AU 710.8 LD 5.6 km/s
2115-11-05 08:38:00 Juptr 1.5458 AU 601.6 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources