2012 QG42
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2012 QG42 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.64 AU to 1.41 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 379.4 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 22 October 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.384 AU
- True anomaly
- 165.72°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.194 AU
- As of
- 3 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 16h 23m 49s
- Declination
- -25° 50′ 39″
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Distance from Earth
- 2.2 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 26.7° — 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.
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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
- 1.026 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3745
- Inclination
- 6.81°
- Orbital period
- 379.4 days
- Perihelion
- 0.642 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.41 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 344.76°
- Argument of periapsis
- 116.2°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 5.4 LD
- 0.0138 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.89
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 2,174
- Data arc
- 6.7 years
- First observed
- 26 August 2012
- Last observed
- 11 May 2019
- Residual RMS
- 0.27 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 22 October 2026
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 24.22 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 20.9
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 85 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-09-07 16:32 UTC close approach of 2012 QG42. Catalogue miss distance 66.9 LD · 2.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-09-04 to 2038-09-10, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2033-08-07 05:04:00 | Venus | 0.1034 AU | 40.2 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2036-11-05 08:34:00 | Venus | 0.0342 AU | 13.3 LD | 10.1 km/s |
| 2038-09-07 16:32:00 | Earth | 0.1718 AU | 66.9 LD | 16.3 km/s |
| 2039-09-16 00:32:00 | Earth | 0.0614 AU | 23.9 LD | 9.7 km/s |
| 2045-04-10 21:59:00 | Earth | 0.1237 AU | 48.1 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2046-04-24 01:53:00 | Earth | 0.1654 AU | 64.4 LD | 15.5 km/s |
| 2046-10-09 07:48:00 | Mars | 0.0829 AU | 32.3 LD | 6.6 km/s |
| 2050-03-21 23:02:00 | Venus | 0.0969 AU | 37.7 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2053-06-19 13:52:00 | Venus | 0.0223 AU | 8.7 LD | 10.8 km/s |
| 2065-09-06 12:19:00 | Earth | 0.1942 AU | 75.6 LD | 17 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB