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Centaur

2022 QK178

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(2022 QK178)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.832 AU
True anomaly
141.26°
Distance from Earth
7.941 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 2022 QK178 — 7.832 AU from the Sun 2022 QK178
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 QK178 is 7.941 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 11m 00s
Declination
+29° 35′ 00″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
7.93 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.82° — 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
6.372 AU
Eccentricity
0.4542
Inclination
17.46°
Orbital period
16.08 years
Perihelion
3.477 AU
Aphelion
9.266 AU
Longitude of ascending node
323.06°
Argument of periapsis
5.58°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 959.6 LD
2.4657 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.697

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
29
Data arc
41 days
First observed
19 August 2022
Last observed
29 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 October 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2072-01-26 01:43:00 Juptr 1.8188 AU 707.8 LD 8 km/s
2096-06-28 21:14:00 Satrn 1.7599 AU 684.9 LD 5 km/s
2124-04-22 12:17:00 Satrn 1.7691 AU 688.5 LD 5.6 km/s

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

Sources