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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 XQ1

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(2015 XQ1)

2015 XQ1 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.67 AU to 1.36 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 374.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.337 AU
True anomaly
165.12°
Distance from Earth
1.072 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2015 XQ1 — 1.337 AU from the Sun 2015 XQ1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 XQ1 is 1.072 AU from Earth today (8.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 56m 18s
Declination
+01° 37′ 25″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
1.08 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.54° — well clear of the Sun

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
1.017 AU
Eccentricity
0.3377
Inclination
18.09°
Orbital period
374.6 days
Perihelion
0.674 AU
Aphelion
1.36 AU
Longitude of ascending node
246.02°
Argument of periapsis
299.36°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 23.3 LD
0.06 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.908

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
38
Data arc
13 days
First observed
3 December 2015
Last observed
16 December 2015
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.4

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 29 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 XQ1 at 2109-07-20 23:30 UTC Sun 141.1 LD · 5.42 × 10⁷ km 2109-07-20 23:30 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2109-07-20 23:30 UTC close approach of 2015 XQ1. Catalogue miss distance 141.1 LD · 5.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2109-07-17 to 2109-07-23, 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
2109-07-20 23:30:00 Earth 0.3624 AU 141.1 LD 20.8 km/s
2110-07-29 20:50:00 Earth 0.4864 AU 189.3 LD 24.7 km/s
2137-11-26 18:53:00 Earth 0.3773 AU 146.8 LD 23.3 km/s
2138-12-02 14:18:00 Earth 0.2305 AU 89.7 LD 19 km/s
2139-12-07 03:59:00 Earth 0.094 AU 36.6 LD 15.1 km/s
2177-11-24 09:15:00 Earth 0.4437 AU 172.7 LD 25.3 km/s
2178-11-30 16:33:00 Earth 0.2899 AU 112.8 LD 20.7 km/s
2179-12-06 02:13:00 Earth 0.1395 AU 54.3 LD 16.4 km/s
2180-12-07 22:53:00 Earth 0.0706 AU 27.5 LD 12.8 km/s
2190-07-16 21:03:00 Earth 0.3061 AU 119.1 LD 19 km/s

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

Sources