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Asteroid Near-Earth

2008 SS

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(2008 SS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.59 AU
True anomaly
296.22°
Distance from Earth
0.762 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 2008 SS — 0.59 AU from the Sun 2008 SS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2008 SS is 0.762 AU from Earth today (6.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 10m 32s
Declination
+15° 19′ 48″
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
35.85° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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
0.929 AU
Eccentricity
0.4792
Inclination
21.14°
Orbital period
326.8 days
Perihelion
0.484 AU
Aphelion
1.373 AU
Longitude of ascending node
5.01°
Argument of periapsis
135.04°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 17.4 LD
0.0448 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.296

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
90
Data arc
17.01 years
First observed
21 September 2008
Last observed
25 September 2025
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 September 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.11

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2008 SS at 2034-09-29 01:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-09-29 01:49 UTC close approach of 2008 SS. Catalogue miss distance 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-09-26 to 2034-10-02, 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 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km 2034-09-29 01:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-09-29 01:49 UTC close approach of 2008 SS. Catalogue miss distance 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-09-26 to 2034-10-02, 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
2034-09-29 01:49:00 Earth 0.1956 AU 76.1 LD 21.8 km/s
2042-10-04 07:06:00 Earth 0.1167 AU 45.4 LD 14.6 km/s
2051-09-29 11:49:00 Earth 0.1935 AU 75.3 LD 21.8 km/s
2059-10-04 11:25:00 Earth 0.1229 AU 47.8 LD 14.5 km/s
2068-09-29 05:05:00 Earth 0.1822 AU 70.9 LD 21.4 km/s
2076-10-03 11:01:00 Earth 0.1369 AU 53.3 LD 14.2 km/s
2085-09-30 03:10:00 Earth 0.1646 AU 64.1 LD 20.9 km/s
2093-10-03 06:28:00 Earth 0.1541 AU 60.0 LD 14 km/s
2102-10-02 01:22:00 Earth 0.1467 AU 57.1 LD 20.4 km/s
2110-10-04 00:22:00 Earth 0.1688 AU 65.7 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources