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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 RQ17

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(2017 RQ17)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.79 AU
True anomaly
132.92°
Distance from Earth
1.428 AU
As of
15 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 RQ17 — 0.79 AU from the Sun 2017 RQ17
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 RQ17 is 1.428 AU from Earth today (11.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 35m 35s
Declination
-16° 45′ 42″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.49° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.699 AU
Eccentricity
0.5186
Inclination
5.03°
Orbital period
213.5 days
Perihelion
0.337 AU
Aphelion
1.062 AU
Longitude of ascending node
159.86°
Argument of periapsis
344.01°
Epoch · J2000
2457998.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.2 LD
0.003 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.068

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
16
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
1 September 2017
Last observed
2 September 2017
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.73

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 108 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 RQ17 at 2027-09-06 15:53 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-06 15:53 UTC close approach of 2017 RQ17. Catalogue miss distance 82.8 LD · 3.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-03 to 2027-09-09, 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 82.8 LD · 3.18 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-06 15:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-06 15:53 UTC close approach of 2017 RQ17. Catalogue miss distance 82.8 LD · 3.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-03 to 2027-09-09, 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
2027-09-06 15:53:00 Earth 0.2126 AU 82.8 LD 17.7 km/s
2028-08-04 02:22:00 Earth 0.4068 AU 158.3 LD 24.4 km/s
2034-09-08 08:27:00 Earth 0.0749 AU 29.1 LD 13 km/s
2051-09-08 10:29:00 Earth 0.1382 AU 53.8 LD 15.2 km/s
2052-08-07 10:28:00 Earth 0.4853 AU 188.9 LD 27.2 km/s
2054-11-24 12:41:00 Venus 0.0695 AU 27.1 LD 18.2 km/s
2055-07-27 10:35:00 Earth 0.122 AU 47.5 LD 14.2 km/s
2057-09-30 19:20:00 Mercury 0.0254 AU 9.9 LD 14.8 km/s
2057-09-30 19:20:00 Merc 0.0254 AU 9.9 LD 14.8 km/s
2058-09-03 03:16:00 Moon 0.0084 AU 3.3 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources