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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 UC

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(2012 UC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.17 AU
True anomaly
152.57°
Distance from Earth
1.493 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2012 UC — 1.17 AU from the Sun 2012 UC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 UC is 1.493 AU from Earth today (12.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 15m 36s
Declination
-29° 26′ 42″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.4° — 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
0.93 AU
Eccentricity
0.3269
Inclination
8.33°
Orbital period
327.5 days
Perihelion
0.626 AU
Aphelion
1.234 AU
Longitude of ascending node
20.42°
Argument of periapsis
128.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.2 LD
0.0184 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.386

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
42
Data arc
6 days
First observed
11 October 2012
Last observed
17 October 2012
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 149 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 UC at 2028-06-21 15:01 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-21 15:01 UTC close approach of 2012 UC. Catalogue miss distance 60.3 LD · 2.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-18 to 2028-06-24, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 60.3 LD · 2.32 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-21 15:01 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-21 15:01 UTC close approach of 2012 UC. Catalogue miss distance 60.3 LD · 2.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-18 to 2028-06-24, 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 south 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
2028-05-07 16:23:00 Venus 0.0596 AU 23.2 LD 11.8 km/s
2028-06-21 15:01:00 Earth 0.1548 AU 60.3 LD 11.6 km/s
2029-03-18 06:19:00 Earth 0.3524 AU 137.1 LD 13 km/s
2029-09-15 15:45:00 Earth 0.224 AU 87.2 LD 7.8 km/s
2029-12-20 14:11:00 Earth 0.302 AU 117.5 LD 8 km/s
2029-12-27 03:55:00 Venus 0.088 AU 34.3 LD 9.7 km/s
2030-10-10 23:19:00 Earth 0.3231 AU 125.7 LD 19.4 km/s
2037-06-13 10:12:00 Earth 0.1675 AU 65.2 LD 6.9 km/s
2038-02-24 20:36:00 Earth 0.3712 AU 144.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2038-10-13 15:20:00 Earth 0.123 AU 47.9 LD 7.5 km/s

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

Sources