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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 BN1

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(2012 BN1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.028 AU
True anomaly
214.03°
Distance from Earth
1.94 AU
As of
20 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 2012 BN1 — 1.028 AU from the Sun 2012 BN1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 BN1 is 1.94 AU from Earth today (16.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 39m 07s
Declination
-06° 15′ 52″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.84° — 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
0.901 AU
Eccentricity
0.1856
Inclination
4.17°
Orbital period
312.5 days
Perihelion
0.734 AU
Aphelion
1.069 AU
Longitude of ascending node
296.34°
Argument of periapsis
24.18°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 11.9 LD
0.0306 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.589

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
56
Data arc
12.04 years
First observed
16 January 2012
Last observed
30 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.52

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 151 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 BN1 at 2029-11-09 07:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-09 07:49 UTC close approach of 2012 BN1. Catalogue miss distance 71.6 LD · 2.75 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-06 to 2029-11-12, 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 71.6 LD · 2.75 × 10⁷ km 2029-11-09 07:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-09 07:49 UTC close approach of 2012 BN1. Catalogue miss distance 71.6 LD · 2.75 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-06 to 2029-11-12, 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
2029-11-09 07:49:00 Earth 0.184 AU 71.6 LD 2.7 km/s
2030-02-06 05:36:00 Earth 0.0867 AU 33.7 LD 4.6 km/s
2030-05-10 08:19:00 Earth 0.1777 AU 69.2 LD 3.3 km/s
2035-10-17 05:21:00 Earth 0.2159 AU 84.0 LD 5.1 km/s
2036-02-25 17:10:00 Earth 0.0857 AU 33.4 LD 4.5 km/s
2036-06-22 18:04:00 Venus 0.0351 AU 13.6 LD 6.5 km/s
2041-09-24 05:02:00 Earth 0.2505 AU 97.5 LD 7 km/s
2042-03-26 04:37:00 Earth 0.0696 AU 27.1 LD 5.6 km/s
2047-01-01 15:40:00 Earth 0.4362 AU 169.8 LD 18.9 km/s
2047-08-31 17:52:00 Earth 0.2747 AU 106.9 LD 8.4 km/s

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

Sources