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Centaur

2012 YO6

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(2012 YO6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.863 AU
True anomaly
270.17°
Distance from Earth
5.409 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2012 YO6 — 4.863 AU from the Sun 2012 YO6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 YO6 is 5.409 AU from Earth today (45.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 53m 10s
Declination
+26° 29′ 18″
Constellation
Corona Borealis
Distance from Earth
5.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.03° — 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
6.307 AU
Eccentricity
0.4774
Inclination
107°
Orbital period
15.84 years
Perihelion
3.296 AU
Aphelion
9.318 AU
Longitude of ascending node
260.69°
Argument of periapsis
145.75°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 939.9 LD
2.4152 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.259

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
47
Data arc
142 days
First observed
15 October 2012
Last observed
6 March 2013
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.87

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-08-11 02:45:00 Juptr 1.545 AU 601.3 LD 26.2 km/s

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

Sources