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Asteroid Near-Earth

2007 WC5

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(2007 WC5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.776 AU
True anomaly
340.19°
Distance from Earth
1.44 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2007 WC5 — 0.776 AU from the Sun 2007 WC5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2007 WC5 is 1.44 AU from Earth today (12.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 03m 41s
Declination
-17° 20′ 00″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.85° — 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
0.973 AU
Eccentricity
0.2106
Inclination
8.54°
Orbital period
350.7 days
Perihelion
0.768 AU
Aphelion
1.178 AU
Longitude of ascending node
236.84°
Argument of periapsis
66.27°
Epoch · J2000
2454425.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.9 LD
0.0153 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.183

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
14
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
20 November 2007
Last observed
21 November 2007
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 17 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2007 WC5 at 2036-03-26 07:30 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-03-26 07:30 UTC close approach of 2007 WC5. Catalogue miss distance 127.4 LD · 4.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-03-23 to 2036-03-29, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 127.4 LD · 4.9 × 10⁷ km 2036-03-26 07:30 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-03-26 07:30 UTC close approach of 2007 WC5. Catalogue miss distance 127.4 LD · 4.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-03-23 to 2036-03-29, 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. 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
2036-03-26 07:30:00 Earth 0.3273 AU 127.4 LD 16.7 km/s
2038-04-12 04:43:00 Venus 0.0932 AU 36.3 LD 8.6 km/s
2081-04-02 03:15:00 Earth 0.2067 AU 80.5 LD 13 km/s
2082-03-20 22:06:00 Earth 0.4495 AU 175.0 LD 20.5 km/s
2127-04-04 20:33:00 Earth 0.1934 AU 75.3 LD 12.6 km/s
2128-03-22 19:10:00 Earth 0.4297 AU 167.2 LD 19.9 km/s
2167-12-01 04:46:00 Earth 0.4553 AU 177.2 LD 21.2 km/s
2168-11-20 13:33:00 Earth 0.2007 AU 78.1 LD 13.5 km/s

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

Sources