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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 EH5

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(2012 EH5)

2012 EH5 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.86 AU to 1.11 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 354.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.102 AU
True anomaly
192.57°
Distance from Earth
2.036 AU
As of
2 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2012 EH5 — 1.102 AU from the Sun 2012 EH5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 EH5 is 2.036 AU from Earth today (16.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 35m 09s
Declination
-12° 41′ 58″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
14.34° — 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
0.981 AU
Eccentricity
0.1273
Inclination
15.6°
Orbital period
354.7 days
Perihelion
0.856 AU
Aphelion
1.105 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.49°
Argument of periapsis
5.15°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 42.8 LD
0.11 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.136

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
26
Data arc
18 days
First observed
13 March 2012
Last observed
31 March 2012
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 84 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 EH5 at 2042-01-31 08:54 UTC Sun 188.3 LD · 7.24 × 10⁷ km 2042-01-31 08:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-01-31 08:54 UTC close approach of 2012 EH5. Catalogue miss distance 188.3 LD · 7.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-01-28 to 2042-02-03, 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
2029-03-17 02:09:00 Venus 0.142 AU 55.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2042-01-31 08:54:00 Earth 0.4838 AU 188.3 LD 16.8 km/s
2043-02-04 13:00:00 Earth 0.3383 AU 131.7 LD 12.1 km/s
2043-11-20 06:32:00 Earth 0.2669 AU 103.9 LD 9.3 km/s
2044-02-20 06:22:00 Earth 0.2156 AU 83.9 LD 9.4 km/s
2044-10-15 00:28:00 Earth 0.1822 AU 70.9 LD 9.8 km/s
2045-03-08 15:18:00 Earth 0.1267 AU 49.3 LD 8.5 km/s
2045-09-17 22:10:00 Earth 0.1484 AU 57.8 LD 9.7 km/s
2046-03-25 10:05:00 Earth 0.1235 AU 48.1 LD 8.5 km/s
2046-08-21 06:30:00 Earth 0.1971 AU 76.7 LD 9.7 km/s

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

Sources