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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 BY512

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(2015 BY512)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.41 AU
True anomaly
191.15°
Distance from Earth
2.21 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2015 BY512 — 1.41 AU from the Sun 2015 BY512
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 BY512 is 2.21 AU from Earth today (18.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 50m 44s
Declination
-05° 42′ 11″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.07° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.878 AU
Eccentricity
0.6658
Inclination
23.31°
Orbital period
300.6 days
Perihelion
0.294 AU
Aphelion
1.463 AU
Longitude of ascending node
317.59°
Argument of periapsis
13.87°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 65.8 LD
0.1691 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.488

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
49
Data arc
9.05 years
First observed
21 January 2015
Last observed
7 February 2024
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
8 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.49

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 171 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 BY512 at 2028-01-25 23:43 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-01-25 23:43 UTC close approach of 2015 BY512. Catalogue miss distance 139.2 LD · 5.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-01-22 to 2028-01-28, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 139.2 LD · 5.35 × 10⁷ km 2028-01-25 23:43 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-01-25 23:43 UTC close approach of 2015 BY512. Catalogue miss distance 139.2 LD · 5.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-01-22 to 2028-01-28, 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 north 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
2028-01-25 23:43:00 Earth 0.3577 AU 139.2 LD 31.7 km/s
2029-02-07 09:57:00 Earth 0.4525 AU 176.1 LD 17.8 km/s
2030-03-26 17:55:00 Earth 0.3331 AU 129.6 LD 18.9 km/s
2033-01-15 21:38:00 Earth 0.1702 AU 66.2 LD 21.4 km/s
2034-02-23 18:57:00 Earth 0.4892 AU 190.4 LD 17.8 km/s
2035-03-21 04:21:00 Earth 0.3967 AU 154.4 LD 28.5 km/s
2038-01-24 16:28:00 Earth 0.338 AU 131.6 LD 17.6 km/s
2039-03-13 14:46:00 Earth 0.4306 AU 167.6 LD 17.3 km/s
2042-01-23 18:43:00 Earth 0.3174 AU 123.5 LD 30.1 km/s
2043-02-10 05:12:00 Earth 0.4635 AU 180.4 LD 17.9 km/s

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

Sources