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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

481817

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481817 (2008 UL90)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.951 AU
True anomaly
170.61°
Distance from Earth
0.879 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 481817 — 0.951 AU from the Sun 481817
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 481817 is 0.879 AU from Earth today (7.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 36m 10s
Declination
+11° 52′ 40″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.71° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.695 AU
Eccentricity
0.3799
Inclination
24.31°
Orbital period
211.6 days
Perihelion
0.431 AU
Aphelion
0.959 AU
Longitude of ascending node
81.12°
Argument of periapsis
183.66°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · IEO
Atira (interior-Earth object)
Earth MOID · 10.4 LD
0.0268 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.103

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
449
Data arc
17.93 years
First observed
26 October 2008
Last observed
2 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.48

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Mt. Lemmon Survey
Discovery date
26 October 2008
Discovery site
Mount Lemmon

Also known as 2008 UL90

Atira Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 176 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 481817 at 2027-12-12 11:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-12 11:57 UTC close approach of 481817. Catalogue miss distance 31.5 LD · 1.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-09 to 2027-12-15, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 31.5 LD · 1.21 × 10⁷ km 2027-12-12 11:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-12 11:57 UTC close approach of 481817. Catalogue miss distance 31.5 LD · 1.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-09 to 2027-12-15, 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 south 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
2027-12-12 11:57:00 Earth 0.0809 AU 31.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2030-07-28 03:17:00 Mercury 0.0996 AU 38.8 LD 23.1 km/s
2030-07-28 03:17:00 Merc 0.0996 AU 38.8 LD 23.1 km/s
2033-06-24 03:40:00 Merc 0.0616 AU 24.0 LD 20.9 km/s
2033-06-24 03:40:00 Mercury 0.0616 AU 24.0 LD 20.9 km/s
2034-12-17 14:38:00 Earth 0.1545 AU 60.1 LD 14.1 km/s
2036-05-21 04:28:00 Merc 0.0319 AU 12.4 LD 20.8 km/s
2036-05-21 04:28:00 Mercury 0.0319 AU 12.4 LD 20.8 km/s
2038-12-11 16:03:00 Earth 0.1381 AU 53.7 LD 14.6 km/s
2039-04-17 05:41:00 Merc 0.0444 AU 17.3 LD 22.8 km/s

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

Sources