Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.887 AU
- True anomaly
- 128.57°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.296 AU
- As of
- 16 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 21m 54s
- Declination
- +49° 47′ 03″
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Distance from Earth
- 0.29 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 60.86° — 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.
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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
- 0.8 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.4474
- Inclination
- 21.21°
- Orbital period
- 261.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.442 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.158 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 252.6°
- Argument of periapsis
- 9.7°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 51.2 LD
- 0.1316 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 7.16
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 311
- Data arc
- 20.07 years
- First observed
- 12 November 2001
- Last observed
- 8 December 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.44 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 January 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.58
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- CSS
- Discovery date
- 20 November 2006
- Discovery site
- Catalina
Also known as 2006 WO3
Close approaches 204 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-24 06:01 UTC close approach of 481442. Catalogue miss distance 52.4 LD · 2.02 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-21 to 2026-11-27, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-24 06:01:00 | Earth | 0.1347 AU | 52.4 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2030-01-08 06:00:00 | Earth | 0.3653 AU | 142.2 LD | 20.6 km/s |
| 2031-11-22 16:02:00 | Earth | 0.132 AU | 51.4 LD | 14.1 km/s |
| 2035-01-08 23:11:00 | Earth | 0.3435 AU | 133.7 LD | 19.6 km/s |
| 2036-11-20 09:37:00 | Earth | 0.1326 AU | 51.6 LD | 14.5 km/s |
| 2038-10-13 05:56:00 | Merc | 0.0616 AU | 24.0 LD | 26.3 km/s |
| 2038-10-13 05:56:00 | Mercury | 0.0616 AU | 24.0 LD | 26.3 km/s |
| 2039-06-29 19:56:00 | Mercury | 0.0174 AU | 6.8 LD | 26.8 km/s |
| 2039-06-29 19:56:00 | Merc | 0.0174 AU | 6.8 LD | 26.8 km/s |
| 2040-01-09 11:24:00 | Earth | 0.3228 AU | 125.6 LD | 18.7 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