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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 SL48

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(2022 SL48)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.125 AU
True anomaly
184.72°
Distance from Earth
0.398 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 2022 SL48 — 1.125 AU from the Sun 2022 SL48
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 SL48 is 0.398 AU from Earth today (3.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 21m 55s
Declination
+27° 02′ 02″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
0.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
98.59° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.846 AU
Eccentricity
0.3314
Inclination
2.31°
Orbital period
284.4 days
Perihelion
0.566 AU
Aphelion
1.127 AU
Longitude of ascending node
359.17°
Argument of periapsis
222.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.5 LD
0.0012 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.909

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
18
Data arc
4 days
First observed
28 September 2022
Last observed
2 October 2022
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.82

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 45 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 SL48 at 2026-12-18 23:07 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-18 23:07 UTC close approach of 2022 SL48. Catalogue miss distance 49.0 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-15 to 2026-12-21, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 49.0 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-18 23:07 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-18 23:07 UTC close approach of 2022 SL48. Catalogue miss distance 49.0 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-15 to 2026-12-21, 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 north 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
2026-12-18 23:07:00 Earth 0.1259 AU 49.0 LD 12.7 km/s
2027-04-06 03:40:00 Venus 0.0756 AU 29.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2029-09-23 09:01:00 Earth 0.0344 AU 13.4 LD 10 km/s
2032-07-08 19:06:00 Venus 0.1242 AU 48.3 LD 17.4 km/s
2033-12-19 21:07:00 Earth 0.0804 AU 31.3 LD 11.1 km/s
2035-09-10 23:39:00 Venus 0.141 AU 54.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2036-09-23 18:15:00 Earth 0.0958 AU 37.3 LD 11.9 km/s
2038-12-01 09:54:00 Venus 0.1148 AU 44.7 LD 8.2 km/s
2040-12-19 13:52:00 Earth 0.0414 AU 16.1 LD 9.2 km/s
2043-09-25 20:48:00 Earth 0.1499 AU 58.3 LD 13.6 km/s

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

Sources