Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.074 AU
- True anomaly
- 136.43°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.505 AU
- As of
- 21 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 16h 52m 31s
- Declination
- -19° 09′ 52″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 1.51 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 45.44° — 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.
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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
- 0.915 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3423
- Inclination
- 7.53°
- Orbital period
- 319.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.602 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.228 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 153.77°
- Argument of periapsis
- 4.67°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 37.9 LD
- 0.0974 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.47
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 421
- Data arc
- 21.16 years
- First observed
- 1 September 2001
- Last observed
- 29 October 2022
- Residual RMS
- 0.38 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 1 September 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 20.42
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- LONEOS
- Discovery date
- 11 September 2001
- Discovery site
- Anderson Mesa
Also known as 2001 RV17
Close approaches 216 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-07-10 22:19 UTC close approach of 401885. Catalogue miss distance 40.2 LD · 1.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-07 to 2028-07-13, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2028-05-21 17:19:00 | Venus | 0.1181 AU | 46.0 LD | 15.4 km/s |
| 2028-07-10 22:19:00 | Earth | 0.1034 AU | 40.2 LD | 10.7 km/s |
| 2029-03-11 11:47:00 | Earth | 0.389 AU | 151.4 LD | 15 km/s |
| 2029-10-16 13:06:00 | Earth | 0.1472 AU | 57.3 LD | 7.7 km/s |
| 2034-06-24 12:05:00 | Venus | 0.0896 AU | 34.9 LD | 9.8 km/s |
| 2035-07-11 16:42:00 | Earth | 0.1077 AU | 41.9 LD | 11 km/s |
| 2036-03-12 16:22:00 | Earth | 0.3884 AU | 151.2 LD | 14.9 km/s |
| 2036-10-14 09:57:00 | Earth | 0.1529 AU | 59.5 LD | 7.7 km/s |
| 2040-07-15 18:12:00 | Venus | 0.1226 AU | 47.7 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2042-07-11 13:36:00 | Earth | 0.1171 AU | 45.6 LD | 11.6 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