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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 VU13

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(2017 VU13)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.523 AU
True anomaly
55.62°
Distance from Earth
1.245 AU
As of
19 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 VU13 — 0.523 AU from the Sun 2017 VU13
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 VU13 is 1.245 AU from Earth today (10.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 18m 11s
Declination
-10° 51′ 51″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.21° — 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
0.847 AU
Eccentricity
0.4687
Inclination
21.21°
Orbital period
284.8 days
Perihelion
0.45 AU
Aphelion
1.244 AU
Longitude of ascending node
153.27°
Argument of periapsis
68.88°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 49.8 LD
0.1281 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.807

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
45
Data arc
6.92 years
First observed
13 November 2017
Last observed
13 October 2024
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.89

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 220 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 VU13 at 2027-09-13 03:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-13 03:27 UTC close approach of 2017 VU13. Catalogue miss distance 49.8 LD · 1.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-10 to 2027-09-16, 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. Sun 49.8 LD · 1.92 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-13 03:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-13 03:27 UTC close approach of 2017 VU13. Catalogue miss distance 49.8 LD · 1.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-10 to 2027-09-16, 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
2027-09-13 03:27:00 Earth 0.1281 AU 49.8 LD 17.6 km/s
2028-12-17 01:43:00 Earth 0.4475 AU 174.2 LD 26.6 km/s
2031-11-09 23:20:00 Earth 0.4648 AU 180.9 LD 10.9 km/s
2032-02-18 09:52:00 Earth 0.4016 AU 156.3 LD 17.7 km/s
2034-09-17 17:39:00 Earth 0.1733 AU 67.5 LD 20.5 km/s
2035-12-24 02:38:00 Earth 0.372 AU 144.8 LD 23.5 km/s
2037-10-13 03:29:00 Venus 0.0801 AU 31.2 LD 21.8 km/s
2038-07-18 12:02:00 Earth 0.4749 AU 184.8 LD 13.8 km/s
2038-10-16 14:39:00 Earth 0.4427 AU 172.3 LD 11.5 km/s
2039-03-02 19:43:00 Earth 0.4488 AU 174.7 LD 19.4 km/s

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

Sources