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Centaur

2010 AN87

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(2010 AN87)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.237 AU
True anomaly
104.14°
Distance from Earth
6.169 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2010 AN87 — 5.237 AU from the Sun 2010 AN87
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2010 AN87 is 6.169 AU from Earth today (51.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 23m 25s
Declination
+08° 24′ 11″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.7° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
5.962 AU
Eccentricity
0.4721
Inclination
15.67°
Orbital period
14.56 years
Perihelion
3.147 AU
Aphelion
8.776 AU
Longitude of ascending node
130.43°
Argument of periapsis
305.19°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 854.5 LD
2.1958 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.69

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
85
Data arc
16.12 years
First observed
8 January 2010
Last observed
21 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.25

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2011 BW22

Centaur

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2080-11-18 06:33:00 Juptr 1.1531 AU 448.7 LD 9.3 km/s
2097-03-22 20:47:00 Juptr 1.9677 AU 765.8 LD 7.4 km/s
2163-11-11 05:43:00 Juptr 0.9982 AU 388.5 LD 8.9 km/s
2193-11-24 00:37:00 Juptr 1.4359 AU 558.8 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources