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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

207945

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207945 (1991 JW)

207945 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.92 AU to 1.16 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 386.9 days; it is about 0.42 km across. Discovered 8 May 1991 by Lawrence, K. J., Helin, E. F.. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 September 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.006 AU
True anomaly
81.34°
Distance from Earth
0.597 AU
As of
4 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 207945 — 1.006 AU from the Sun 207945
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 207945 is 0.597 AU from Earth today (5.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 11m 09s
Declination
+17° 26′ 56″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.02° — 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
1.039 AU
Eccentricity
0.1187
Inclination
8.71°
Orbital period
386.9 days
Perihelion
0.916 AU
Aphelion
1.162 AU
Longitude of ascending node
53.85°
Argument of periapsis
301.97°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 8.1 LD
0.0208 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.885

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
366
Data arc
71.42 years
First observed
16 April 1955
Last observed
16 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.21 km
Rotation period
3.15 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.161
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.61

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Lawrence, K. J., Helin, E. F.
Discovery date
8 May 1991
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 1991 JW

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 45 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 207945 at 2027-05-19 16:47 UTC Sun 38.9 LD · 1.5 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-19 16:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-19 16:47 UTC close approach of 207945. Catalogue miss distance 38.9 LD · 1.5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-16 to 2027-05-22, 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. 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
2027-05-19 16:47:00 Earth 0.1 AU 38.9 LD 5 km/s
2028-11-30 20:45:00 Earth 0.1345 AU 52.3 LD 8.8 km/s
2044-06-02 14:28:00 Earth 0.1756 AU 68.3 LD 9.3 km/s
2045-04-26 12:46:00 Earth 0.1636 AU 63.7 LD 5 km/s
2045-10-22 19:36:00 Earth 0.1226 AU 47.7 LD 4.9 km/s
2062-06-03 08:32:00 Earth 0.1179 AU 45.9 LD 7.7 km/s
2063-04-12 09:41:00 Earth 0.192 AU 74.7 LD 5 km/s
2063-11-10 15:59:00 Earth 0.0708 AU 27.6 LD 5 km/s
2080-06-01 18:02:00 Earth 0.1879 AU 73.1 LD 9.7 km/s
2081-05-01 19:49:00 Earth 0.1496 AU 58.2 LD 5 km/s

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

Sources