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Asteroid Near-Earth

Ra-Shalom

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2100 Ra-Shalom (1978 RA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.66 AU
True anomaly
272.63°
Distance from Earth
0.817 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.

Sun Earth — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth Ra-Shalom — 0.66 AU from the Sun Ra-Shalom
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Ra-Shalom is 0.817 AU from Earth today (6.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 52m 38s
Declination
-06° 30′ 51″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.14° — 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
0.832 AU
Eccentricity
0.4365
Inclination
15.76°
Orbital period
277.2 days
Perihelion
0.469 AU
Aphelion
1.195 AU
Longitude of ascending node
170.76°
Argument of periapsis
356.08°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 58.3 LD
0.1497 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.946

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
4,245
Data arc
50.92 years
First observed
3 October 1975
Last observed
4 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.28 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.15 km
Rotation period
19.8 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.13
Absolute magnitude (H)
16.24
Colour index (B–V)
0.71
Spectral type (SMASS)
Xc
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.31

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Helin, E. F.
Discovery date
10 September 1978
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 2100 · 1978 RA · 1975 TB

Aten Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 99 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Ra-Shalom at 2035-10-15 00:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-10-15 00:14 UTC close approach of Ra-Shalom. Catalogue miss distance 74.2 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-10-12 to 2035-10-18, 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 74.2 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km 2035-10-15 00:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-10-15 00:14 UTC close approach of Ra-Shalom. Catalogue miss distance 74.2 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-10-12 to 2035-10-18, 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
2032-03-20 13:23:00 Mercury 0.0974 AU 37.9 LD 19 km/s
2032-03-20 13:23:00 Merc 0.0974 AU 37.9 LD 19 km/s
2035-10-15 00:14:00 Earth 0.1906 AU 74.2 LD 15.2 km/s
2038-10-05 16:25:00 Earth 0.1553 AU 60.4 LD 11.6 km/s
2041-09-15 12:44:00 Earth 0.1864 AU 72.5 LD 11.3 km/s
2044-08-25 11:03:00 Earth 0.1823 AU 70.9 LD 11.4 km/s
2047-05-24 02:22:00 Mercury 0.0784 AU 30.5 LD 18 km/s
2047-05-24 02:22:00 Merc 0.0784 AU 30.5 LD 18 km/s
2047-08-10 06:13:00 Earth 0.1799 AU 70.0 LD 13.2 km/s
2057-10-13 22:08:00 Earth 0.1646 AU 64.0 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources