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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 BF86

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(2012 BF86)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.776 AU
True anomaly
241.03°
Distance from Earth
1.766 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 2012 BF86 — 0.776 AU from the Sun 2012 BF86
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 BF86 is 1.766 AU from Earth today (14.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 17m 42s
Declination
-05° 25′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
4.46° — 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
0.756 AU
Eccentricity
0.4361
Inclination
6.02°
Orbital period
240.1 days
Perihelion
0.426 AU
Aphelion
1.086 AU
Longitude of ascending node
117.51°
Argument of periapsis
196.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.1 LD
0.0233 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.565

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
62
Data arc
6.07 years
First observed
15 January 2010
Last observed
11 February 2016
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.05 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.69

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 316 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 BF86 at 2029-01-16 09:25 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-16 09:25 UTC close approach of 2012 BF86. Catalogue miss distance 190.8 LD · 7.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-13 to 2029-01-19, 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 190.8 LD · 7.33 × 10⁷ km 2029-01-16 09:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-16 09:25 UTC close approach of 2012 BF86. Catalogue miss distance 190.8 LD · 7.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-13 to 2029-01-19, 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
2028-03-19 06:46:00 Merc 0.0561 AU 21.8 LD 13.4 km/s
2028-03-19 06:46:00 Mercury 0.0561 AU 21.8 LD 13.4 km/s
2029-01-16 09:25:00 Earth 0.4903 AU 190.8 LD 27.4 km/s
2031-01-10 13:59:00 Earth 0.3322 AU 129.3 LD 21.9 km/s
2031-05-30 04:53:00 Venus 0.0479 AU 18.6 LD 17.2 km/s
2033-01-04 23:03:00 Earth 0.1713 AU 66.7 LD 16.4 km/s
2034-04-02 21:22:00 Venus 0.0526 AU 20.5 LD 16.6 km/s
2035-01-05 04:52:00 Earth 0.0286 AU 11.1 LD 11.3 km/s
2035-05-20 03:39:00 Earth 0.4587 AU 178.5 LD 12.5 km/s
2035-06-19 06:39:00 Merc 0.0386 AU 15.0 LD 15.1 km/s

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

Sources