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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

162361

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162361 (2000 AF6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.529 AU
True anomaly
336.07°
Distance from Earth
1.206 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 162361 — 0.529 AU from the Sun 162361
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 162361 is 1.206 AU from Earth today (10.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 22m 38s
Declination
-18° 29′ 24″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.61° — 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
0.875 AU
Eccentricity
0.4109
Inclination
2.71°
Orbital period
298.9 days
Perihelion
0.515 AU
Aphelion
1.234 AU
Longitude of ascending node
109.72°
Argument of periapsis
201.53°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.7 LD
0.0224 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.694

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
506
Data arc
32.07 years
First observed
15 January 1991
Last observed
11 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 December 2025

Physical properties

Rotation period
3.46 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.24

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
4 January 2000
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2000 AF6

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 129 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 162361 at 2031-12-21 12:19 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-21 12:19 UTC close approach of 162361. Catalogue miss distance 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-18 to 2031-12-24, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km 2031-12-21 12:19 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-21 12:19 UTC close approach of 162361. Catalogue miss distance 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-18 to 2031-12-24, 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. 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
2028-05-11 09:59:00 Venus 0.0605 AU 23.5 LD 17.5 km/s
2030-10-25 04:08:00 Venus 0.1089 AU 42.4 LD 19.9 km/s
2031-12-21 12:19:00 Earth 0.1361 AU 53.0 LD 9.1 km/s
2037-03-03 07:16:00 Earth 0.1869 AU 72.7 LD 9 km/s
2040-12-26 05:49:00 Earth 0.1645 AU 64.0 LD 9 km/s
2046-03-09 21:11:00 Earth 0.1597 AU 62.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2050-01-01 06:00:00 Earth 0.1893 AU 73.7 LD 9.1 km/s
2051-05-02 15:39:00 Merc 0.0933 AU 36.3 LD 8.2 km/s
2051-05-02 15:39:00 Mercury 0.0933 AU 36.3 LD 8.2 km/s
2051-06-14 07:16:00 Venus 0.1084 AU 42.2 LD 19.9 km/s

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

Sources