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Asteroid Near-Earth

2024 XA6

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(2024 XA6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.762 AU
True anomaly
306.7°
Distance from Earth
1.502 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 XA6 — 0.762 AU from the Sun 2024 XA6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2024 XA6 is 1.502 AU from Earth today (12.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 55m 41s
Declination
-14° 17′ 17″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
1.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.7° — 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
0.897 AU
Eccentricity
0.2092
Inclination
28.45°
Orbital period
310.2 days
Perihelion
0.709 AU
Aphelion
1.084 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.93°
Argument of periapsis
308.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.2 LD
0.0006 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.516

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
61
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
5 December 2024
Last observed
6 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 December 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.49

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2024 XA6 at 2041-12-05 21:53 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2041-12-05 21:53 UTC close approach of 2024 XA6. Catalogue miss distance 25.5 LD · 9.8 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2041-12-02 to 2041-12-08, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 25.5 LD · 9.8 × 10⁶ km 2041-12-05 21:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2041-12-05 21:53 UTC close approach of 2024 XA6. Catalogue miss distance 25.5 LD · 9.8 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2041-12-02 to 2041-12-08, 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 south 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
2027-10-24 02:30:00 Venus 0.0624 AU 24.3 LD 21 km/s
2041-12-05 21:53:00 Earth 0.0655 AU 25.5 LD 16.1 km/s
2045-08-25 19:38:00 Venus 0.0459 AU 17.9 LD 20.7 km/s
2052-12-08 11:06:00 Earth 0.1735 AU 67.5 LD 14.4 km/s
2058-12-04 08:49:00 Earth 0.1421 AU 55.3 LD 17.4 km/s
2063-06-28 12:15:00 Venus 0.0339 AU 13.2 LD 20.4 km/s
2069-12-08 15:10:00 Earth 0.1101 AU 42.9 LD 14.5 km/s
2075-12-03 04:53:00 Earth 0.1962 AU 76.3 LD 18.4 km/s
2081-05-01 03:43:00 Venus 0.0405 AU 15.7 LD 20.6 km/s
2086-12-08 17:34:00 Earth 0.0832 AU 32.4 LD 14.7 km/s

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

Sources