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Asteroid Near-Earth

2024 MD

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(2024 MD)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.06 AU
True anomaly
159.23°
Distance from Earth
2.052 AU
As of
20 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 2024 MD — 1.06 AU from the Sun 2024 MD
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2024 MD is 2.052 AU from Earth today (17.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 41m 05s
Declination
-07° 42′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
3.17° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.897 AU
Eccentricity
0.2008
Inclination
5.65°
Orbital period
310.2 days
Perihelion
0.717 AU
Aphelion
1.077 AU
Longitude of ascending node
86.99°
Argument of periapsis
317.6°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.1 LD
0.0028 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.612

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
15
Data arc
4 days
First observed
12 June 2024
Last observed
16 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2024 MD at 2035-03-14 09:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-03-14 09:57 UTC close approach of 2024 MD. Catalogue miss distance 38.0 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-03-11 to 2035-03-17, 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 38.0 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km 2035-03-14 09:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-03-14 09:57 UTC close approach of 2024 MD. Catalogue miss distance 38.0 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-03-11 to 2035-03-17, 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
2032-06-13 16:26:00 Venus 0.1136 AU 44.2 LD 9.8 km/s
2035-03-14 09:57:00 Earth 0.0977 AU 38.0 LD 5 km/s
2041-06-18 03:11:00 Earth 0.0248 AU 9.6 LD 6.3 km/s
2043-05-18 18:14:00 Venus 0.0478 AU 18.6 LD 6 km/s
2052-06-17 18:34:00 Earth 0.0604 AU 23.5 LD 7.2 km/s
2057-03-16 02:32:00 Earth 0.1094 AU 42.6 LD 6.3 km/s
2101-03-16 22:02:00 Earth 0.137 AU 53.3 LD 7.8 km/s
2107-06-19 16:38:00 Earth 0.0868 AU 33.8 LD 7.9 km/s
2112-03-17 07:25:00 Earth 0.1277 AU 49.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2117-10-22 09:36:00 Venus 0.0865 AU 33.7 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources