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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2012 VE46

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(2012 VE46)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.857 AU
True anomaly
220.1°
Distance from Earth
0.604 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2012 VE46 — 0.857 AU from the Sun 2012 VE46
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 VE46 is 0.604 AU from Earth today (5.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 00m 43s
Declination
+20° 01′ 39″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.31° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.713 AU
Eccentricity
0.3612
Inclination
6.67°
Orbital period
219.9 days
Perihelion
0.455 AU
Aphelion
0.971 AU
Longitude of ascending node
8.64°
Argument of periapsis
190.62°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · IEO
Atira (interior-Earth object)
Earth MOID · 12.9 LD
0.0331 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.983

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
77
Data arc
6.09 years
First observed
6 November 2012
Last observed
10 December 2018
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.2

Discovery & classification

Atira Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 265 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 VE46 at 2027-10-07 21:03 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-07 21:03 UTC close approach of 2012 VE46. Catalogue miss distance 177.4 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-04 to 2027-10-10, 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. Sun 177.4 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km 2027-10-07 21:03 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-07 21:03 UTC close approach of 2012 VE46. Catalogue miss distance 177.4 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-04 to 2027-10-10, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-10-07 21:03:00 Earth 0.4557 AU 177.4 LD 21.6 km/s
2028-02-10 10:31:00 Earth 0.4653 AU 181.1 LD 14.9 km/s
2029-06-06 11:05:00 Earth 0.4987 AU 194.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2031-02-17 06:29:00 Earth 0.4814 AU 187.4 LD 16.3 km/s
2032-06-13 12:28:00 Earth 0.4833 AU 188.1 LD 14.4 km/s
2034-02-24 00:35:00 Earth 0.4958 AU 192.9 LD 17.7 km/s
2035-06-22 05:09:00 Earth 0.4644 AU 180.7 LD 12.7 km/s
2035-10-20 19:29:00 Earth 0.4374 AU 170.2 LD 20.3 km/s
2038-06-30 14:43:00 Earth 0.4419 AU 172.0 LD 10.7 km/s
2038-10-22 22:04:00 Earth 0.3747 AU 145.8 LD 18.1 km/s

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

Sources