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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 QB2

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(2017 QB2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.832 AU
True anomaly
332.14°
Distance from Earth
1.599 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 2017 QB2 — 0.832 AU from the Sun 2017 QB2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 QB2 is 1.599 AU from Earth today (13.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 18m 45s
Declination
-03° 00′ 54″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.14° — 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
0.973 AU
Eccentricity
0.1584
Inclination
9.16°
Orbital period
350.5 days
Perihelion
0.819 AU
Aphelion
1.127 AU
Longitude of ascending node
322.83°
Argument of periapsis
218.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 20.4 LD
0.0524 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.191

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
28
Data arc
827 days
First observed
16 August 2017
Last observed
21 November 2019
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 106 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 QB2 at 2039-08-04 01:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-08-04 01:56 UTC close approach of 2017 QB2. Catalogue miss distance 131.8 LD · 5.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-08-01 to 2039-08-07, 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 131.8 LD · 5.07 × 10⁷ km 2039-08-04 01:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-08-04 01:56 UTC close approach of 2017 QB2. Catalogue miss distance 131.8 LD · 5.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-08-01 to 2039-08-07, 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
2032-07-13 02:29:00 Venus 0.1465 AU 57.0 LD 6.8 km/s
2039-08-04 01:56:00 Earth 0.3388 AU 131.8 LD 15 km/s
2040-07-29 12:10:00 Earth 0.1085 AU 42.2 LD 8.3 km/s
2041-08-25 01:15:00 Earth 0.1203 AU 46.8 LD 5.5 km/s
2042-03-15 12:09:00 Earth 0.1941 AU 75.6 LD 7 km/s
2043-01-20 12:31:00 Earth 0.1184 AU 46.1 LD 6.5 km/s
2043-12-14 21:46:00 Earth 0.2181 AU 84.9 LD 10.6 km/s
2044-11-28 06:44:00 Earth 0.4436 AU 172.6 LD 17.8 km/s
2047-12-13 00:20:00 Venus 0.1495 AU 58.2 LD 7 km/s
2063-08-03 08:33:00 Earth 0.317 AU 123.4 LD 14.3 km/s

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

Sources