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Asteroid Near-Earth

2010 WC

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(2010 WC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.919 AU
True anomaly
128.67°
Distance from Earth
0.887 AU
As of
17 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2010 WC — 0.919 AU from the Sun 2010 WC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2010 WC is 0.887 AU from Earth today (7.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 29m 09s
Declination
-30° 56′ 21″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.37° — 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
0.818 AU
Eccentricity
0.3427
Inclination
7.4°
Orbital period
270.4 days
Perihelion
0.538 AU
Aphelion
1.099 AU
Longitude of ascending node
57.47°
Argument of periapsis
143.54°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.4 LD
0.0036 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.097

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
60
Data arc
14.02 years
First observed
16 November 2010
Last observed
23 November 2024
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Giorgini
12 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 113 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2010 WC at 2038-09-14 05:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-09-14 05:27 UTC close approach of 2010 WC. Catalogue miss distance 47.5 LD · 1.83 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-09-11 to 2038-09-17, 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 12 Sep 17 Sep 47.5 LD · 1.83 × 10⁷ km 2038-09-14 05:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-09-14 05:27 UTC close approach of 2010 WC. Catalogue miss distance 47.5 LD · 1.83 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-09-11 to 2038-09-17, 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
2038-09-14 05:27:00 Earth 0.122 AU 47.5 LD 8.2 km/s
2040-09-26 02:41:00 Venus 0.1292 AU 50.3 LD 8.7 km/s
2041-10-30 23:14:00 Earth 0.1099 AU 42.8 LD 7.4 km/s
2044-06-20 12:50:00 Venus 0.0751 AU 29.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2044-11-22 07:29:00 Earth 0.0725 AU 28.2 LD 11.2 km/s
2048-03-03 21:44:00 Venus 0.0516 AU 20.1 LD 11.9 km/s
2051-11-14 18:25:00 Venus 0.0706 AU 27.5 LD 14.3 km/s
2054-08-15 04:10:00 Venus 0.1217 AU 47.4 LD 17.4 km/s
2055-07-27 15:18:00 Venus 0.1182 AU 46.0 LD 17.1 km/s
2055-09-09 19:13:00 Earth 0.1478 AU 57.5 LD 11 km/s

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

Sources