2026 RQ15 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.9 AU to 1.17 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 384.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 16 September 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.125 AU
- True anomaly
- 135.77°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.46 AU
- As of
- 4 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 20h 05m 18s
- Declination
- +42° 55′ 52″
- Constellation
- Cygnus
- Distance from Earth
- 0.46 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 94.42° — 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.
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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
- 1.035 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1348
- Inclination
- 30.7°
- Orbital period
- 384.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.896 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.175 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 350.06°
- Argument of periapsis
- 268.66°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 4.7 LD
- 0.0122 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.787
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 30
- Data arc
- 2 days
- First observed
- 13 September 2026
- Last observed
- 15 September 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.49 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 16 September 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.53
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 30 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-03-09 07:41 UTC close approach of 2026 RQ15. Catalogue miss distance 27.3 LD · 1.05 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-03-06 to 2044-03-12, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2044-03-09 07:41:00 | Earth | 0.0701 AU | 27.3 LD | 17.1 km/s |
| 2045-09-07 19:20:00 | Earth | 0.1856 AU | 72.2 LD | 15.6 km/s |
| 2046-09-17 01:44:00 | Earth | 0.1357 AU | 52.8 LD | 17.8 km/s |
| 2064-03-12 01:07:00 | Earth | 0.0399 AU | 15.5 LD | 16.2 km/s |
| 2065-09-10 11:50:00 | Earth | 0.0799 AU | 31.1 LD | 15.8 km/s |
| 2083-03-07 20:50:00 | Earth | 0.149 AU | 58.0 LD | 18.1 km/s |
| 2084-03-15 05:51:00 | Earth | 0.1787 AU | 69.5 LD | 15.8 km/s |
| 2085-09-14 12:53:00 | Earth | 0.0614 AU | 23.9 LD | 16.8 km/s |
| 2103-03-13 23:09:00 | Earth | 0.0418 AU | 16.3 LD | 16.1 km/s |
| 2104-09-11 13:29:00 | Earth | 0.0726 AU | 28.2 LD | 15.8 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB