Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.003 AU
- True anomaly
- 137.49°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.021 AU
- As of
- 19 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 21h 20m 57s
- Declination
- +02° 16′ 28″
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Distance from Earth
- 0.03 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 115° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.859 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2992
- Inclination
- 20.84°
- Orbital period
- 290.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.602 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.116 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 24.81°
- Argument of periapsis
- 222.99°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
- 0.0035 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.782
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 21
- Data arc
- 24 hours
- First observed
- 17 October 2026
- Last observed
- 18 October 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.24 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 18 October 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.95
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 20 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-10-24 03:22 UTC close approach of 2026 UL. Catalogue miss distance 69.2 LD · 2.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-10-21 to 2030-10-27, 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. 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-18 03:44:00 | Earth | 0.0048 AU | 1.9 LD | 13.1 km/s |
| 2026-10-18 07:37:00 | Moon | 0.0066 AU | 2.5 LD | 12.5 km/s |
| 2030-10-24 03:22:00 | Earth | 0.1778 AU | 69.2 LD | 11.1 km/s |
| 2049-10-18 10:09:00 | Earth | 0.054 AU | 21.0 LD | 14.1 km/s |
| 2053-10-19 23:09:00 | Earth | 0.1166 AU | 45.4 LD | 11.4 km/s |
| 2070-02-15 14:02:00 | Venus | 0.1153 AU | 44.9 LD | 18.6 km/s |
| 2072-10-20 15:05:00 | Earth | 0.1701 AU | 66.2 LD | 16.9 km/s |
| 2075-09-09 22:46:00 | Venus | 0.064 AU | 24.9 LD | 14.7 km/s |
| 2076-10-17 16:30:00 | Moon | 0.0069 AU | 2.7 LD | 13.5 km/s |
| 2076-10-17 17:53:00 | Earth | 0.0095 AU | 3.7 LD | 12.9 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB