Kamo`oalewa is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.9 AU to 1.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 365.7 days. Discovered 27 April 2016 by Pan-STARRS 1. Orbit from the JPL solution of 3 September 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.913 AU
- True anomaly
- 34.3°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.105 AU
- As of
- 3 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
- 11h 52m 47s
- Declination
- -27° 01′ 56″
- Constellation
- Hydra
- Distance from Earth
- 0.11 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 39.58° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
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
- 1.001 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1022
- Inclination
- 7.8°
- Orbital period
- 365.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.898 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.103 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 65.59°
- Argument of periapsis
- 304.36°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 11.7 LD
- 0.0301 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.064
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 335
- Data arc
- 20.97 years
- First observed
- 17 March 2004
- Last observed
- 7 March 2025
- Residual RMS
- 0.35 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 3 September 2026
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 0.47 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.31
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Pan-STARRS 1
- Discovery date
- 27 April 2016
- Discovery site
- Haleakala
Kamo`oalewa alludes to a celestial object that is oscillating, like its path in the sky as viewed from the Earth. It is a name found in the Hawaiian chant Kumulipo. He `āpana hōkūna`i i lele mai kona kino nui, he holo pū me ka honua a puni ka lā. Name conceived by A Hua He Inoa, `Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai`i.
Also known as 469219 · 2016 HO3
Close approaches 473 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-05 01:45 UTC close approach of Kamo`oalewa. Catalogue miss distance 44.9 LD · 1.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-02 to 2026-11-08, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-05 01:45:00 | Earth | 0.1152 AU | 44.9 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2027-02-21 20:27:00 | Earth | 0.1706 AU | 66.4 LD | 2.7 km/s |
| 2027-11-07 08:59:00 | Earth | 0.1116 AU | 43.4 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2028-11-07 20:45:00 | Earth | 0.1089 AU | 42.4 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2029-11-09 00:44:00 | Earth | 0.1074 AU | 41.8 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2030-11-09 02:50:00 | Earth | 0.1073 AU | 41.8 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2031-11-08 15:23:00 | Earth | 0.1086 AU | 42.3 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2032-11-06 16:44:00 | Earth | 0.1111 AU | 43.2 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2033-11-04 19:24:00 | Earth | 0.1146 AU | 44.6 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2034-11-02 06:33:00 | Earth | 0.1193 AU | 46.4 LD | 4.6 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB