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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 VC26

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(2012 VC26)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.961 AU
True anomaly
255.06°
Distance from Earth
0.482 AU
As of
22 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 VC26 — 0.961 AU from the Sun 2012 VC26
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 VC26 is 0.482 AU from Earth today (4.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 23m 00s
Declination
+16° 10′ 21″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
71.7° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.949 AU
Eccentricity
0.1951
Inclination
1.48°
Orbital period
337.6 days
Perihelion
0.764 AU
Aphelion
1.134 AU
Longitude of ascending node
42.63°
Argument of periapsis
120.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.1 LD
0.0029 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.321

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
28
Data arc
4 days
First observed
6 November 2012
Last observed
10 November 2012
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 52 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 VC26 at 2026-10-24 13:03 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-10-24 13:03 UTC close approach of 2012 VC26. Catalogue miss distance 194.5 LD · 7.48 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-10-21 to 2026-10-27, 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 194.5 LD · 7.48 × 10⁷ km 2026-10-24 13:03 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-10-24 13:03 UTC close approach of 2012 VC26. Catalogue miss distance 194.5 LD · 7.48 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-10-21 to 2026-10-27, 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
2026-10-24 13:03:00 Earth 0.4999 AU 194.5 LD 20.7 km/s
2027-01-08 09:45:00 Venus 0.1478 AU 57.5 LD 7 km/s
2027-02-14 14:29:00 Venus 0.1469 AU 57.2 LD 0.8 km/s
2028-11-13 04:13:00 Venus 0.1331 AU 51.8 LD 6.3 km/s
2030-09-18 15:51:00 Venus 0.125 AU 48.6 LD 5.9 km/s
2032-07-23 20:02:00 Venus 0.1244 AU 48.4 LD 5.9 km/s
2034-05-28 18:29:00 Venus 0.1315 AU 51.2 LD 6.2 km/s
2035-07-22 05:33:00 Earth 0.4281 AU 166.6 LD 18.1 km/s
2036-04-01 15:30:00 Venus 0.1464 AU 57.0 LD 6.9 km/s
2036-07-09 20:13:00 Earth 0.0486 AU 18.9 LD 4.1 km/s

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

Sources