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Asteroid Near-Earth

162142

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162142 (1998 VR)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.074 AU
True anomaly
212.79°
Distance from Earth
0.741 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 162142 — 1.074 AU from the Sun 162142
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 162142 is 0.741 AU from Earth today (6.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 18m 08s
Declination
+28° 48′ 32″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.79° — 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
0.875 AU
Eccentricity
0.3178
Inclination
21.81°
Orbital period
299.1 days
Perihelion
0.597 AU
Aphelion
1.154 AU
Longitude of ascending node
46.35°
Argument of periapsis
170.74°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 58.6 LD
0.1506 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.667

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
773
Data arc
27.11 years
First observed
10 November 1998
Last observed
20 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.23 km
Rotation period
8.44 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.25
Absolute magnitude (H)
18.78
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sk

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
10 November 1998
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1998 VR

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 58 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 162142 at 2048-11-26 10:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-11-26 10:23 UTC close approach of 162142. Catalogue miss distance 74.9 LD · 2.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-11-23 to 2048-11-29, 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. Sun 74.9 LD · 2.88 × 10⁷ km 2048-11-26 10:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-11-26 10:23 UTC close approach of 162142. Catalogue miss distance 74.9 LD · 2.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-11-23 to 2048-11-29, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2048-11-26 10:23:00 Earth 0.1926 AU 74.9 LD 13.6 km/s
2057-11-25 23:41:00 Earth 0.1858 AU 72.3 LD 13.4 km/s
2066-11-25 10:17:00 Earth 0.1793 AU 69.8 LD 13.2 km/s
2075-11-24 09:19:00 Earth 0.1709 AU 66.5 LD 13 km/s
2084-11-21 07:30:00 Earth 0.1608 AU 62.6 LD 12.7 km/s
2093-11-17 14:55:00 Earth 0.153 AU 59.6 LD 12.4 km/s
2101-08-13 12:32:00 Venus 0.1453 AU 56.6 LD 16 km/s
2102-11-13 04:38:00 Earth 0.1549 AU 60.3 LD 12.2 km/s
2104-01-27 12:34:00 Venus 0.1408 AU 54.8 LD 15.9 km/s
2106-07-12 18:42:00 Venus 0.1374 AU 53.5 LD 15.9 km/s

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

Sources