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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

162421

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162421 (2000 ET70)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.977 AU
True anomaly
111.68°
Distance from Earth
1.521 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 162421 — 0.977 AU from the Sun 162421
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 162421 is 1.521 AU from Earth today (12.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 34m 30s
Declination
+08° 27′ 48″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
39.13° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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
0.947 AU
Eccentricity
0.1239
Inclination
22.32°
Orbital period
336.4 days
Perihelion
0.829 AU
Aphelion
1.064 AU
Longitude of ascending node
331.11°
Argument of periapsis
46.05°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 11.8 LD
0.0303 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.28

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
743
Data arc
48.87 years
First observed
18 February 1977
Last observed
3 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 January 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
8.95 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.11

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
8 March 2000
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2000 ET70

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 162421 at 2035-02-19 20:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-02-19 20:56 UTC close approach of 162421. Catalogue miss distance 51.8 LD · 1.99 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-02-16 to 2035-02-22, 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 51.8 LD · 1.99 × 10⁷ km 2035-02-19 20:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-02-19 20:56 UTC close approach of 162421. Catalogue miss distance 51.8 LD · 1.99 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-02-16 to 2035-02-22, 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
2035-02-19 20:56:00 Earth 0.1331 AU 51.8 LD 13.1 km/s
2047-02-19 09:34:00 Earth 0.0426 AU 16.6 LD 11.9 km/s
2047-08-29 19:56:00 Earth 0.1645 AU 64.0 LD 12.8 km/s
2059-02-19 09:20:00 Earth 0.0369 AU 14.4 LD 11.9 km/s
2059-08-29 01:21:00 Earth 0.1614 AU 62.8 LD 12.8 km/s
2071-02-19 12:29:00 Earth 0.0962 AU 37.4 LD 12.6 km/s
2071-09-06 23:02:00 Earth 0.1961 AU 76.3 LD 12.9 km/s
2096-02-20 14:28:00 Earth 0.0906 AU 35.3 LD 11.5 km/s
2096-08-17 04:36:00 Earth 0.1504 AU 58.5 LD 13 km/s
2108-02-20 15:59:00 Earth 0.0478 AU 18.6 LD 12 km/s

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

Sources