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Asteroid Near-Earth

2008 WK60

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(2008 WK60)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.016 AU
True anomaly
193.53°
Distance from Earth
0.661 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.

Sun Earth — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2008 WK60 — 1.016 AU from the Sun 2008 WK60
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2008 WK60 is 0.661 AU from Earth today (5.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 50m 38s
Declination
+13° 06′ 51″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.66 AU
Elongation from the Sun
72.4° — 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
0.779 AU
Eccentricity
0.3204
Inclination
8.49°
Orbital period
251.3 days
Perihelion
0.53 AU
Aphelion
1.029 AU
Longitude of ascending node
81.5°
Argument of periapsis
146.4°
Epoch · J2000
2454797.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.7 LD
0.0171 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.401

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
25
Data arc
18 days
First observed
23 November 2008
Last observed
11 December 2008
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 43 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2008 WK60 at 2026-11-28 21:20 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-28 21:20 UTC close approach of 2008 WK60. Catalogue miss distance 188.0 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-25 to 2026-12-01, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 188.0 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-28 21:20 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-28 21:20 UTC close approach of 2008 WK60. Catalogue miss distance 188.0 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-25 to 2026-12-01, 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. 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
2026-11-28 21:20:00 Earth 0.483 AU 188.0 LD 23.4 km/s
2026-12-26 17:50:00 Venus 0.0576 AU 22.4 LD 10 km/s
2028-12-10 11:49:00 Earth 0.0918 AU 35.7 LD 10.7 km/s
2100-10-19 12:27:00 Venus 0.1081 AU 42.1 LD 16.1 km/s
2153-06-20 21:09:00 Earth 0.4475 AU 174.2 LD 15.7 km/s
2153-12-01 11:08:00 Earth 0.4429 AU 172.3 LD 21.9 km/s
2197-10-23 19:11:00 Earth 0.3942 AU 153.4 LD 19.1 km/s

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

Sources