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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 RF36

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(2015 RF36)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.051 AU
True anomaly
202.81°
Distance from Earth
0.622 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 2015 RF36 — 1.051 AU from the Sun 2015 RF36
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 RF36 is 0.622 AU from Earth today (5.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 12m 42s
Declination
-20° 39′ 51″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
77.23° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.949 AU
Eccentricity
0.1187
Inclination
7.25°
Orbital period
337.8 days
Perihelion
0.836 AU
Aphelion
1.062 AU
Longitude of ascending node
182.45°
Argument of periapsis
328.77°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.4 LD
0.0345 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.323

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
346
Data arc
61 days
First observed
6 September 2015
Last observed
6 November 2015
Residual RMS
0.22 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 June 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.03 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 65 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 RF36 at 2027-06-03 03:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-03 03:18 UTC close approach of 2015 RF36. Catalogue miss distance 50.5 LD · 1.94 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-31 to 2027-06-06, 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 50.5 LD · 1.94 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-03 03:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-03 03:18 UTC close approach of 2015 RF36. Catalogue miss distance 50.5 LD · 1.94 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-31 to 2027-06-06, 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
2027-06-03 03:18:00 Earth 0.1298 AU 50.5 LD 3.6 km/s
2027-08-20 07:39:00 Earth 0.1063 AU 41.4 LD 4.3 km/s
2028-01-23 18:39:00 Earth 0.1688 AU 65.7 LD 4.6 km/s
2040-03-11 05:03:00 Earth 0.1532 AU 59.6 LD 5.8 km/s
2040-10-14 12:52:00 Earth 0.1138 AU 44.3 LD 6.6 km/s
2052-04-11 02:40:00 Earth 0.1378 AU 53.6 LD 5.4 km/s
2052-10-02 01:47:00 Earth 0.0344 AU 13.4 LD 4.4 km/s
2064-04-30 03:38:00 Earth 0.1321 AU 51.4 LD 4.8 km/s
2064-09-15 06:49:00 Earth 0.0623 AU 24.3 LD 4.2 km/s
2076-08-17 02:45:00 Earth 0.1084 AU 42.2 LD 4.2 km/s

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

Sources