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Asteroid Near-Earth

480922

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480922 (2002 XP37)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.064 AU
True anomaly
127.38°
Distance from Earth
0.766 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 480922 — 1.064 AU from the Sun 480922
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 480922 is 0.766 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 35m 57s
Declination
+07° 23′ 49″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.2° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.955 AU
Eccentricity
0.3593
Inclination
21.53°
Orbital period
340.9 days
Perihelion
0.612 AU
Aphelion
1.298 AU
Longitude of ascending node
265.87°
Argument of periapsis
317.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 40.2 LD
0.1034 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.192

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
213
Data arc
15.06 years
First observed
7 December 2002
Last observed
30 December 2017
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.59

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
7 December 2002
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2002 XP37

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 175 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 480922 at 2027-08-29 22:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-08-29 22:23 UTC close approach of 480922. Catalogue miss distance 154.2 LD · 5.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-26 to 2027-09-01, 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 154.2 LD · 5.93 × 10⁷ km 2027-08-29 22:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-08-29 22:23 UTC close approach of 480922. Catalogue miss distance 154.2 LD · 5.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-26 to 2027-09-01, 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
2027-08-29 22:23:00 Earth 0.3964 AU 154.2 LD 19.4 km/s
2028-07-17 03:52:00 Earth 0.3109 AU 121.0 LD 16.2 km/s
2029-06-01 22:10:00 Earth 0.39 AU 151.8 LD 18.5 km/s
2029-11-24 21:34:00 Earth 0.3852 AU 149.9 LD 12.4 km/s
2030-04-17 07:56:00 Earth 0.4606 AU 179.2 LD 16.8 km/s
2030-12-24 15:13:00 Earth 0.1686 AU 65.6 LD 12.9 km/s
2031-12-26 04:12:00 Earth 0.2585 AU 100.6 LD 20.4 km/s
2041-08-31 06:59:00 Earth 0.409 AU 159.2 LD 19.9 km/s
2042-07-20 12:50:00 Earth 0.3093 AU 120.4 LD 16.1 km/s
2043-06-05 02:29:00 Earth 0.3843 AU 149.6 LD 18.4 km/s

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

Sources