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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 XN261

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(2015 XN261)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.821 AU
True anomaly
19.58°
Distance from Earth
1.815 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2015 XN261 — 0.821 AU from the Sun 2015 XN261
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 XN261 is 1.815 AU from Earth today (15.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 59m 48s
Declination
-13° 13′ 36″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
1.25° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.974 AU
Eccentricity
0.1637
Inclination
2.32°
Orbital period
351.1 days
Perihelion
0.814 AU
Aphelion
1.133 AU
Longitude of ascending node
278.46°
Argument of periapsis
274.93°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0054 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.195

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
166
Data arc
12 days
First observed
10 December 2015
Last observed
22 December 2015
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 68 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 XN261 at 2036-08-13 07:29 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-08-13 07:29 UTC close approach of 2015 XN261. Catalogue miss distance 152.3 LD · 5.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-08-10 to 2036-08-16, 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 152.3 LD · 5.86 × 10⁷ km 2036-08-13 07:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-08-13 07:29 UTC close approach of 2015 XN261. Catalogue miss distance 152.3 LD · 5.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-08-10 to 2036-08-16, 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
2034-07-05 00:06:00 Venus 0.1162 AU 45.2 LD 2.5 km/s
2036-08-13 07:29:00 Earth 0.3914 AU 152.3 LD 16.5 km/s
2037-08-03 15:28:00 Earth 0.1574 AU 61.3 LD 9.5 km/s
2038-08-07 07:28:00 Earth 0.0795 AU 30.9 LD 3.1 km/s
2039-04-25 09:40:00 Earth 0.187 AU 72.8 LD 5.7 km/s
2039-10-28 18:16:00 Earth 0.1342 AU 52.2 LD 4.1 km/s
2040-02-25 13:42:00 Earth 0.1609 AU 62.6 LD 4.7 km/s
2040-12-21 10:02:00 Earth 0.0455 AU 17.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2041-12-11 12:49:00 Earth 0.3046 AU 118.5 LD 14.2 km/s
2058-07-09 19:39:00 Venus 0.1257 AU 48.9 LD 2.9 km/s

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

Sources