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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2017 QY34

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(2017 QY34)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.959 AU
True anomaly
224.16°
Distance from Earth
0.683 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 QY34 — 0.959 AU from the Sun 2017 QY34
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 QY34 is 0.683 AU from Earth today (5.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 09m 21s
Declination
+49° 22′ 14″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
0.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.24° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.813 AU
Eccentricity
0.4149
Inclination
27.22°
Orbital period
267.9 days
Perihelion
0.476 AU
Aphelion
1.151 AU
Longitude of ascending node
328.6°
Argument of periapsis
222.73°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.8 LD
0.0328 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.038

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
117
Data arc
8.19 years
First observed
30 August 2017
Last observed
6 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.92

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 44 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 QY34 at 2028-08-24 20:31 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-24 20:31 UTC close approach of 2017 QY34. Catalogue miss distance 19.6 LD · 7.54 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-21 to 2028-08-27, 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 22 Aug 19.6 LD · 7.54 × 10⁶ km 2028-08-24 20:31 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-24 20:31 UTC close approach of 2017 QY34. Catalogue miss distance 19.6 LD · 7.54 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-21 to 2028-08-27, 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
2028-08-24 20:31:00 Earth 0.0504 AU 19.6 LD 17.7 km/s
2039-08-04 12:01:00 Venus 0.1319 AU 51.3 LD 21 km/s
2039-08-26 10:52:00 Earth 0.0776 AU 30.2 LD 18.4 km/s
2050-08-27 13:36:00 Earth 0.1205 AU 46.9 LD 19.5 km/s
2058-08-30 20:13:00 Venus 0.1473 AU 57.3 LD 23.2 km/s
2061-08-29 02:13:00 Earth 0.1725 AU 67.1 LD 20.8 km/s
2062-05-09 14:00:00 Venus 0.1493 AU 58.1 LD 19.4 km/s
2064-08-24 04:18:00 Earth 0.1877 AU 73.0 LD 14.2 km/s
2075-08-24 00:24:00 Earth 0.1418 AU 55.2 LD 14.6 km/s
2081-06-04 02:36:00 Venus 0.1312 AU 51.1 LD 21.2 km/s

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

Sources