278381 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.76 AU to 1.29 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 377.9 days. Discovered 18 June 2007 by CSS. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.28 AU
- True anomaly
- 169.24°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.231 AU
- As of
- 3 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 51m 53s
- Declination
- -09° 51′ 36″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 2.23 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 12.51° — too close to the Sun to observe
Visible from both hemispheres.
From your location
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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
- 1.023 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2587
- Inclination
- 5.83°
- Orbital period
- 377.9 days
- Perihelion
- 0.758 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.288 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 172.75°
- Argument of periapsis
- 217.68°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 27.0 LD
- 0.0693 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.939
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 85
- Data arc
- 4.69 years
- First observed
- 18 June 2007
- Last observed
- 24 February 2012
- Residual RMS
- 0.62 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 14 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.92
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- CSS
- Discovery date
- 18 June 2007
- Discovery site
- Catalina
Also known as 2007 MR
Close approaches 147 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-06-18 23:51 UTC close approach of 278381. Catalogue miss distance 191.7 LD · 7.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-06-15 to 2034-06-21, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2030-07-05 17:04:00 | Venus | 0.0629 AU | 24.5 LD | 6.2 km/s |
| 2034-06-18 23:51:00 | Earth | 0.4926 AU | 191.7 LD | 22.1 km/s |
| 2035-06-29 09:28:00 | Earth | 0.2867 AU | 111.6 LD | 15.8 km/s |
| 2036-07-10 00:45:00 | Earth | 0.1075 AU | 41.8 LD | 9.5 km/s |
| 2037-08-17 11:17:00 | Earth | 0.1676 AU | 65.2 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2038-05-11 22:36:00 | Earth | 0.2786 AU | 108.4 LD | 6.8 km/s |
| 2038-10-03 04:51:00 | Earth | 0.2341 AU | 91.1 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2039-04-14 06:52:00 | Earth | 0.2903 AU | 113.0 LD | 7.4 km/s |
| 2039-11-12 01:52:00 | Earth | 0.2363 AU | 92.0 LD | 8.3 km/s |
| 2040-03-16 16:12:00 | Earth | 0.2455 AU | 95.5 LD | 6.9 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB