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Centaur

2011 RC17

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(2011 RC17)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.462 AU
True anomaly
301.97°
Distance from Earth
2.65 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 2011 RC17 — 3.462 AU from the Sun 2011 RC17
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2011 RC17 is 2.65 AU from Earth today (22.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 23m 38s
Declination
+01° 04′ 05″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
137.99° — 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
6.257 AU
Eccentricity
0.5377
Inclination
11.36°
Orbital period
15.65 years
Perihelion
2.893 AU
Aphelion
9.621 AU
Longitude of ascending node
212.86°
Argument of periapsis
193.59°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 740.4 LD
1.9025 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.645

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
89
Data arc
2.57 years
First observed
5 August 2010
Last observed
28 February 2013
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.8

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2057-10-17 06:58:00 Juptr 1.6048 AU 624.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2105-12-22 16:32:00 Juptr 1.8623 AU 724.8 LD 7.6 km/s
2132-03-22 17:28:00 Satrn 0.9689 AU 377.1 LD 4.2 km/s
2159-07-20 20:35:00 Satrn 1.3854 AU 539.1 LD 4.6 km/s

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

Sources