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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 BU93

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(2017 BU93)

2017 BU93 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.59 AU to 1.38 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 355 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.235 AU
True anomaly
146.1°
Distance from Earth
1.727 AU
As of
2 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 2017 BU93 — 1.235 AU from the Sun 2017 BU93
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 BU93 is 1.727 AU from Earth today (14.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 45m 30s
Declination
+01° 32′ 19″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.76° — 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
0.981 AU
Eccentricity
0.4029
Inclination
22.4°
Orbital period
355 days
Perihelion
0.586 AU
Aphelion
1.377 AU
Longitude of ascending node
141.79°
Argument of periapsis
213.5°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 64.5 LD
0.1657 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.038

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
23
Data arc
20 days
First observed
29 January 2017
Last observed
18 February 2017
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.17

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 48 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 BU93 at 2048-02-02 16:10 UTC Sun 184.5 LD · 7.09 × 10⁷ km 2048-02-02 16:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-02-02 16:10 UTC close approach of 2017 BU93. Catalogue miss distance 184.5 LD · 7.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-01-30 to 2048-02-05, 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 south 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
2030-05-20 06:25:00 Venus 0.118 AU 45.9 LD 18.2 km/s
2048-02-02 16:10:00 Earth 0.474 AU 184.5 LD 27.4 km/s
2049-01-27 10:27:00 Earth 0.3276 AU 127.5 LD 22.6 km/s
2050-01-24 02:44:00 Earth 0.2055 AU 80.0 LD 18.2 km/s
2051-01-24 22:44:00 Earth 0.1681 AU 65.4 LD 14.9 km/s
2052-01-31 17:15:00 Earth 0.2325 AU 90.5 LD 13.6 km/s
2053-02-09 19:03:00 Earth 0.3157 AU 122.9 LD 13.5 km/s
2054-02-20 15:09:00 Earth 0.3855 AU 150.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2055-03-03 22:04:00 Earth 0.4371 AU 170.1 LD 13.6 km/s
2083-02-01 03:59:00 Earth 0.4373 AU 170.2 LD 26.3 km/s

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

Sources