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Centaur

2024 QO9

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(2024 QO9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.525 AU
True anomaly
112.38°
Distance from Earth
5.282 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 2024 QO9 — 5.525 AU from the Sun 2024 QO9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2024 QO9 is 5.282 AU from Earth today (43.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 40m 26s
Declination
+19° 05′ 28″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
5.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
99.45° — 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
5.675 AU
Eccentricity
0.432
Inclination
7.48°
Orbital period
13.52 years
Perihelion
3.223 AU
Aphelion
8.127 AU
Longitude of ascending node
119.94°
Argument of periapsis
216.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 862.8 LD
2.2171 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.785

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
33
Data arc
14.18 years
First observed
5 August 2010
Last observed
8 October 2024
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 December 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.43

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2089-06-29 23:01:00 Juptr 0.5666 AU 220.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2104-01-27 14:57:00 Juptr 1.7621 AU 685.7 LD 6.1 km/s
2120-01-08 17:35:00 Juptr 0.949 AU 369.3 LD 3.7 km/s
2131-11-15 00:44:00 Juptr 0.5235 AU 203.7 LD 6.8 km/s

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

Sources