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Asteroid Near-Earth

152742

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152742 (1998 XE12)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.961 AU
True anomaly
142.4°
Distance from Earth
0.514 AU
As of
20 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 152742 — 0.961 AU from the Sun 152742
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 152742 is 0.514 AU from Earth today (4.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 43m 10s
Declination
+32° 31′ 47″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
71.5° — 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.

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
0.878 AU
Eccentricity
0.7392
Inclination
13.43°
Orbital period
300.6 days
Perihelion
0.229 AU
Aphelion
1.527 AU
Longitude of ascending node
280.01°
Argument of periapsis
353.17°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 43.5 LD
0.1119 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.464

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
565
Data arc
28.16 years
First observed
30 November 1995
Last observed
27 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 December 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.21 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.264
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.1

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
14 December 1998
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1998 XE12

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 40 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 152742 at 2038-01-25 16:00 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-01-25 16:00 UTC close approach of 152742. Catalogue miss distance 58.0 LD · 2.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-01-22 to 2038-01-28, 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 23 Jan 58.0 LD · 2.23 × 10⁷ km 2038-01-25 16:00 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-01-25 16:00 UTC close approach of 152742. Catalogue miss distance 58.0 LD · 2.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-01-22 to 2038-01-28, 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
2038-01-25 16:00:00 Earth 0.1491 AU 58.0 LD 27 km/s
2044-11-24 11:07:00 Earth 0.1996 AU 77.7 LD 27.8 km/s
2058-11-22 23:43:00 Earth 0.1675 AU 65.2 LD 25.7 km/s
2061-01-29 21:26:00 Earth 0.1625 AU 63.2 LD 20.8 km/s
2072-11-21 07:59:00 Earth 0.1568 AU 61.0 LD 24.3 km/s
2075-01-30 05:40:00 Earth 0.135 AU 52.5 LD 21.9 km/s
2086-11-20 23:04:00 Earth 0.1588 AU 61.8 LD 23 km/s
2089-01-29 02:27:00 Earth 0.1162 AU 45.2 LD 23.2 km/s
2100-11-20 18:02:00 Earth 0.1786 AU 69.5 LD 21.4 km/s
2103-01-29 08:06:00 Earth 0.1174 AU 45.7 LD 24.9 km/s

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

Sources