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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

481394

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481394 (2006 SF6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.996 AU
True anomaly
115.6°
Distance from Earth
1.529 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 481394 — 0.996 AU from the Sun 481394
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 481394 is 1.529 AU from Earth today (12.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 33m 39s
Declination
-18° 34′ 29″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
39.91° — 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.

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
0.95 AU
Eccentricity
0.2806
Inclination
5.84°
Orbital period
338.3 days
Perihelion
0.684 AU
Aphelion
1.217 AU
Longitude of ascending node
227.95°
Argument of periapsis
305.57°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.4 LD
0.0189 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.292

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,108
Data arc
14.09 years
First observed
17 September 2006
Last observed
19 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 February 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
11.49 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.98

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
CSS
Discovery date
17 September 2006
Discovery site
Catalina

Also known as 2006 SF6

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 76 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 481394 at 2030-07-09 10:12 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-07-09 10:12 UTC close approach of 481394. Catalogue miss distance 51.1 LD · 1.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-07-06 to 2030-07-12, 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 51.1 LD · 1.96 × 10⁷ km 2030-07-09 10:12 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-07-09 10:12 UTC close approach of 481394. Catalogue miss distance 51.1 LD · 1.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-07-06 to 2030-07-12, 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
2030-07-09 10:12:00 Earth 0.1313 AU 51.1 LD 5.7 km/s
2031-10-14 21:43:00 Earth 0.1987 AU 77.3 LD 6.7 km/s
2032-11-15 07:07:00 Earth 0.1926 AU 74.9 LD 14.2 km/s
2042-07-17 12:42:00 Earth 0.1594 AU 62.0 LD 12.1 km/s
2044-11-19 23:09:00 Earth 0.0397 AU 15.5 LD 7.6 km/s
2055-07-10 15:50:00 Earth 0.0987 AU 38.4 LD 7.3 km/s
2057-11-17 18:40:00 Earth 0.1295 AU 50.4 LD 12.3 km/s
2062-08-19 06:44:00 Venus 0.1418 AU 55.2 LD 12.3 km/s
2064-06-25 00:23:00 Venus 0.1201 AU 46.7 LD 10.5 km/s
2066-05-01 15:28:00 Venus 0.1088 AU 42.3 LD 9.1 km/s

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

Sources