Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2002 TZ66

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2002 TZ66)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.881 AU
True anomaly
70.93°
Distance from Earth
1.223 AU
As of
21 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 2002 TZ66 — 0.881 AU from the Sun 2002 TZ66
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2002 TZ66 is 1.223 AU from Earth today (10.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 49m 27s
Declination
-28° 01′ 26″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
45.54° — 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.

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
0.93 AU
Eccentricity
0.1207
Inclination
8.48°
Orbital period
327.4 days
Perihelion
0.817 AU
Aphelion
1.042 AU
Longitude of ascending node
12.9°
Argument of periapsis
223.26°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
0.0033 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.427

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
49
Data arc
23 days
First observed
7 October 2002
Last observed
30 October 2002
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
1.1 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 118 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2002 TZ66 at 2028-10-04 12:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-04 12:04 UTC close approach of 2002 TZ66. Catalogue miss distance 5.65 LD · 2.17 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-01 to 2028-10-07, 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. Sun 5.65 LD · 2.17 × 10⁶ km 2028-10-04 12:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-04 12:04 UTC close approach of 2002 TZ66. Catalogue miss distance 5.65 LD · 2.17 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-01 to 2028-10-07, 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
2028-10-04 12:04:00 Earth 0.0145 AU 5.6 LD 5.8 km/s
2029-04-09 19:58:00 Earth 0.1658 AU 64.5 LD 6.3 km/s
2030-01-11 10:13:00 Earth 0.4046 AU 157.4 LD 15.5 km/s
2030-03-02 03:35:00 Venus 0.1383 AU 53.8 LD 4.7 km/s
2037-10-04 20:57:00 Earth 0.1434 AU 55.8 LD 8.8 km/s
2038-05-09 09:54:00 Earth 0.2036 AU 79.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2039-01-19 14:38:00 Earth 0.2811 AU 109.4 LD 11.5 km/s
2043-09-13 14:38:00 Venus 0.1387 AU 54.0 LD 4.7 km/s
2046-10-09 06:12:00 Earth 0.2948 AU 114.7 LD 13.1 km/s
2047-06-15 16:29:00 Earth 0.2237 AU 87.1 LD 5.4 km/s

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

Sources