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Asteroid Near-Earth

87309

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87309 (2000 QP)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.917 AU
True anomaly
126.22°
Distance from Earth
1.717 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 87309 — 0.917 AU from the Sun 87309
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 87309 is 1.717 AU from Earth today (14.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 49m 00s
Declination
-29° 19′ 01″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
1.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.98° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.847 AU
Eccentricity
0.4632
Inclination
34.74°
Orbital period
285 days
Perihelion
0.455 AU
Aphelion
1.24 AU
Longitude of ascending node
294.27°
Argument of periapsis
188.18°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 78.7 LD
0.2021 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.728

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,157
Data arc
50.16 years
First observed
8 July 1975
Last observed
3 September 2025
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 September 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.28 km
Rotation period
2.17 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.499
Absolute magnitude (H)
17.59

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
21 August 2000
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2000 QP

Aten Near-Earth Object

Sources