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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 YK7

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(2017 YK7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.455 AU
True anomaly
6.06°
Distance from Earth
1.277 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 YK7 — 0.455 AU from the Sun 2017 YK7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 YK7 is 1.277 AU from Earth today (10.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 37m 26s
Declination
-16° 14′ 42″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.46° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.756 AU
Eccentricity
0.3996
Inclination
8.11°
Orbital period
240.1 days
Perihelion
0.454 AU
Aphelion
1.058 AU
Longitude of ascending node
282.5°
Argument of periapsis
336.31°
Epoch · J2000
2458115.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.4 LD
0.0086 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.574

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
20
Data arc
5 days
First observed
25 December 2017
Last observed
30 December 2017
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
24 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.56

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 80 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 YK7 at 2044-12-29 12:53 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-12-29 12:53 UTC close approach of 2017 YK7. Catalogue miss distance 172.7 LD · 6.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-12-26 to 2045-01-01, 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 172.7 LD · 6.64 × 10⁷ km 2044-12-29 12:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-12-29 12:53 UTC close approach of 2017 YK7. Catalogue miss distance 172.7 LD · 6.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-12-26 to 2045-01-01, 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
2044-12-29 12:53:00 Earth 0.4437 AU 172.7 LD 24.6 km/s
2051-02-04 05:57:00 Mercury 0.0801 AU 31.2 LD 22.2 km/s
2051-02-04 05:57:00 Merc 0.0801 AU 31.2 LD 22.2 km/s
2051-08-14 17:44:00 Venus 0.1166 AU 45.4 LD 14.9 km/s
2053-11-20 10:34:00 Earth 0.3741 AU 145.6 LD 21.4 km/s
2055-11-16 01:16:00 Earth 0.2225 AU 86.6 LD 15.7 km/s
2070-09-08 11:46:00 Venus 0.1262 AU 49.1 LD 17.1 km/s
2075-06-02 09:40:00 Mercury 0.0722 AU 28.1 LD 21.3 km/s
2075-06-02 09:40:00 Merc 0.0722 AU 28.1 LD 21.3 km/s
2076-11-22 12:30:00 Earth 0.4358 AU 169.6 LD 23.6 km/s

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

Sources