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Asteroid Near-Earth

418797

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418797 (2008 VF)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.08 AU
True anomaly
140.11°
Distance from Earth
0.311 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 418797 — 1.08 AU from the Sun 418797
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 418797 is 0.311 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 47m 12s
Declination
+45° 33′ 51″
Constellation
Cygnus
Distance from Earth
0.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
98.09° — 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
0.906 AU
Eccentricity
0.3257
Inclination
26.2°
Orbital period
314.9 days
Perihelion
0.611 AU
Aphelion
1.201 AU
Longitude of ascending node
234.4°
Argument of periapsis
3.28°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 81.3 LD
0.2089 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.452

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
484
Data arc
24.8 years
First observed
10 December 2001
Last observed
28 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.39 km
Rotation period
7.35 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.063
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.41

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
1 November 2008
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2008 VF

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 21 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-11-03 11:16:00 Venus 0.1238 AU 48.2 LD 21.9 km/s
2035-02-25 21:05:00 Venus 0.1157 AU 45.0 LD 21.8 km/s
2039-06-20 06:55:00 Venus 0.1139 AU 44.3 LD 21.8 km/s
2043-10-12 15:59:00 Venus 0.1184 AU 46.1 LD 21.8 km/s
2048-02-04 02:39:00 Venus 0.1288 AU 50.1 LD 21.9 km/s
2052-05-28 18:06:00 Venus 0.145 AU 56.4 LD 22.1 km/s
2123-02-12 08:55:00 Venus 0.134 AU 52.1 LD 22.1 km/s
2127-06-06 22:28:00 Venus 0.1211 AU 47.1 LD 21.9 km/s
2131-09-29 08:32:00 Venus 0.1146 AU 44.6 LD 21.8 km/s
2136-01-21 16:20:00 Venus 0.1144 AU 44.5 LD 21.8 km/s

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

Sources