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Centaur

2017 QO100

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(2017 QO100)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.329 AU
True anomaly
196.01°
Distance from Earth
9.036 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 QO100 — 8.329 AU from the Sun 2017 QO100
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 QO100 is 9.036 AU from Earth today (1.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 00m 22s
Declination
-12° 18′ 04″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
9.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.12° — 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
5.774 AU
Eccentricity
0.4982
Inclination
9.13°
Orbital period
13.87 years
Perihelion
2.897 AU
Aphelion
8.65 AU
Longitude of ascending node
140.41°
Argument of periapsis
268.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 749.4 LD
1.9257 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.705

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
21
Data arc
63 days
First observed
20 August 2017
Last observed
22 October 2017
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.9

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-05-25 06:30:00 Juptr 0.8385 AU 326.3 LD 8.6 km/s
2087-08-05 13:09:00 Juptr 1.3865 AU 539.6 LD 9.8 km/s

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

Sources