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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 PZ17

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(2012 PZ17)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.921 AU
True anomaly
110.62°
Distance from Earth
1.732 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 PZ17 — 0.921 AU from the Sun 2012 PZ17
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 PZ17 is 1.732 AU from Earth today (14.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 21m 31s
Declination
-15° 52′ 35″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.32° — 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
0.893 AU
Eccentricity
0.144
Inclination
5.39°
Orbital period
308 days
Perihelion
0.764 AU
Aphelion
1.021 AU
Longitude of ascending node
139.42°
Argument of periapsis
7.69°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0055 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.646

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
82
Data arc
7 days
First observed
14 August 2012
Last observed
21 August 2012
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.73

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 81 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 PZ17 at 2028-07-28 03:38 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-07-28 03:38 UTC close approach of 2012 PZ17. Catalogue miss distance 109.9 LD · 4.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-25 to 2028-07-31, 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 109.9 LD · 4.22 × 10⁷ km 2028-07-28 03:38 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-07-28 03:38 UTC close approach of 2012 PZ17. Catalogue miss distance 109.9 LD · 4.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-25 to 2028-07-31, 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
2028-07-28 03:38:00 Earth 0.2823 AU 109.9 LD 11.4 km/s
2029-01-24 15:34:00 Earth 0.2143 AU 83.4 LD 6.6 km/s
2034-04-08 08:06:00 Earth 0.2129 AU 82.9 LD 5.5 km/s
2034-09-19 22:06:00 Earth 0.2198 AU 85.5 LD 9 km/s
2035-01-09 02:28:00 Venus 0.0782 AU 30.4 LD 4.3 km/s
2039-07-27 02:15:00 Earth 0.1013 AU 39.4 LD 5.9 km/s
2039-12-15 01:03:00 Earth 0.1787 AU 69.6 LD 4.3 km/s
2041-10-22 02:37:00 Venus 0.0617 AU 24.0 LD 3.1 km/s
2044-08-04 15:36:00 Earth 0.4945 AU 192.5 LD 17.9 km/s
2045-03-07 18:20:00 Earth 0.225 AU 87.6 LD 6.8 km/s

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

Sources