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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 VN2

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(2017 VN2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.907 AU
True anomaly
105.67°
Distance from Earth
1.392 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 VN2 — 0.907 AU from the Sun 2017 VN2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 VN2 is 1.392 AU from Earth today (11.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 28m 12s
Declination
-21° 08′ 17″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.66° — 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
0.894 AU
Eccentricity
0.2055
Inclination
1.39°
Orbital period
308.9 days
Perihelion
0.711 AU
Aphelion
1.078 AU
Longitude of ascending node
251.29°
Argument of periapsis
296.48°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.3 LD
0.0058 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.629

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
66
Data arc
7 days
First observed
12 November 2017
Last observed
19 November 2017
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 61 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 VN2 at 2028-05-27 13:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-27 13:56 UTC close approach of 2017 VN2. Catalogue miss distance 95.1 LD · 3.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-24 to 2028-05-30, 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 95.1 LD · 3.65 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-27 13:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-27 13:56 UTC close approach of 2017 VN2. Catalogue miss distance 95.1 LD · 3.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-24 to 2028-05-30, 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
2028-03-28 10:31:00 Venus 0.0709 AU 27.6 LD 6.3 km/s
2028-05-27 13:56:00 Earth 0.2443 AU 95.1 LD 6.5 km/s
2028-11-20 04:26:00 Earth 0.0105 AU 4.1 LD 5.5 km/s
2038-08-19 23:46:00 Earth 0.0709 AU 27.6 LD 7.2 km/s
2043-08-24 20:44:00 Earth 0.2514 AU 97.8 LD 12.9 km/s
2044-11-08 06:16:00 Earth 0.4434 AU 172.6 LD 19.1 km/s
2048-08-31 04:41:00 Earth 0.4299 AU 167.3 LD 18.5 km/s
2049-11-15 20:23:00 Earth 0.2659 AU 103.5 LD 13.5 km/s
2054-05-17 20:51:00 Earth 0.2661 AU 103.6 LD 7.5 km/s
2054-11-21 12:29:00 Earth 0.0925 AU 36.0 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources