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Asteroid Near-Earth

2025 SM6

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(2025 SM6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.588 AU
True anomaly
293.69°
Distance from Earth
1.372 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2025 SM6 — 0.588 AU from the Sun 2025 SM6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2025 SM6 is 1.372 AU from Earth today (11.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 21m 03s
Declination
+05° 18′ 35″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.11° — 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
0.779 AU
Eccentricity
0.3654
Inclination
25.51°
Orbital period
251.1 days
Perihelion
0.494 AU
Aphelion
1.064 AU
Longitude of ascending node
1.56°
Argument of periapsis
204.13°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.0 LD
0.0078 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.33

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
67
Data arc
2 days
First observed
24 September 2025
Last observed
26 September 2025
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 September 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 31 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2025 SM6 at 2036-09-24 02:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-09-24 02:27 UTC close approach of 2025 SM6. Catalogue miss distance 4.36 LD · 1.67 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-09-21 to 2036-09-27, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 22 Sep 26 Sep 4.36 LD · 1.67 × 10⁶ km 2036-09-24 02:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-09-24 02:27 UTC close approach of 2025 SM6. Catalogue miss distance 4.36 LD · 1.67 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-09-21 to 2036-09-27, 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. 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
2036-09-24 02:27:00 Earth 0.0112 AU 4.4 LD 14.3 km/s
2047-09-26 20:22:00 Earth 0.085 AU 33.1 LD 13.4 km/s
2058-10-01 00:43:00 Earth 0.1681 AU 65.4 LD 13.2 km/s
2060-09-24 07:22:00 Earth 0.1306 AU 50.8 LD 16.9 km/s
2071-09-24 13:47:00 Earth 0.0394 AU 15.3 LD 15 km/s
2082-09-24 21:04:00 Earth 0.0187 AU 7.3 LD 14.2 km/s
2093-09-28 13:38:00 Earth 0.1305 AU 50.8 LD 13.2 km/s
2095-09-25 18:32:00 Earth 0.1689 AU 65.7 LD 17.8 km/s
2106-09-25 10:04:00 Earth 0.0422 AU 16.4 LD 15.1 km/s
2117-09-26 10:13:00 Earth 0.0503 AU 19.6 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources