162015 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.71 AU to 1.28 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 361.7 days. Discovered 5 October 1994 by McNaught, R. H.. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.717 AU
- True anomaly
- 16.02°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.61 AU
- As of
- 2 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
- 13h 33m 55s
- Declination
- -08° 23′ 19″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.61 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 16.39° — too close to the Sun to observe
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
- 0.993 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2841
- Inclination
- 23.75°
- Orbital period
- 361.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.711 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.276 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 175.21°
- Argument of periapsis
- 349.8°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 99.1 LD
- 0.2546 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.005
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 147
- Data arc
- 9.04 years
- First observed
- 5 October 1994
- Last observed
- 19 October 2003
- Residual RMS
- 0.64 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 13 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 19.25
- Spectral type (SMASS)
- Sr
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- McNaught, R. H.
- Discovery date
- 5 October 1994
- Discovery site
- Siding Spring
Also known as 1994 TF2
Close approaches 132 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2073-07-20 13:22 UTC close approach of 162015. Catalogue miss distance 189.0 LD · 7.26 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2073-07-17 to 2073-07-23, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2043-09-04 19:37:00 | Venus | 0.0263 AU | 10.2 LD | 16.5 km/s |
| 2066-06-04 09:55:00 | Venus | 0.1183 AU | 46.0 LD | 16.8 km/s |
| 2071-05-15 17:48:00 | Venus | 0.0363 AU | 14.1 LD | 17 km/s |
| 2073-07-20 13:22:00 | Earth | 0.4856 AU | 189.0 LD | 16.5 km/s |
| 2074-07-21 20:36:00 | Earth | 0.4538 AU | 176.6 LD | 14.9 km/s |
| 2075-07-26 07:57:00 | Earth | 0.4272 AU | 166.2 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2076-07-31 09:00:00 | Earth | 0.4048 AU | 157.5 LD | 13.2 km/s |
| 2077-05-25 01:16:00 | Earth | 0.4016 AU | 156.3 LD | 14.3 km/s |
| 2077-08-06 15:24:00 | Earth | 0.3855 AU | 150.0 LD | 12.9 km/s |
| 2078-05-14 09:09:00 | Earth | 0.3807 AU | 148.1 LD | 15.2 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB