506459 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.91 AU to 1.17 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 386.1 days. Discovered 11 January 2002 by LINEAR. Orbit from the JPL solution of 16 March 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.966 AU
- True anomaly
- 296.73°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.6 AU
- As of
- 4 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
- 17h 04m 41s
- Declination
- -18° 50′ 11″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 1.6 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 34.68° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
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
- 1.038 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1261
- Inclination
- 23°
- Orbital period
- 386.1 days
- Perihelion
- 0.907 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.169 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 128.49°
- Argument of periapsis
- 226.09°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 29.1 LD
- 0.0749 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.83
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 4,329
- Data arc
- 40.66 years
- First observed
- 13 February 1985
- Last observed
- 12 October 2025
- Residual RMS
- 0.31 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 16 March 2026
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 2.31 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 17.97
- Spectral type (SMASS)
- Ld
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- LINEAR
- Discovery date
- 11 January 2002
- Discovery site
- Socorro
Also known as 2002 AL14
Close approaches 33 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-07-24 04:32 UTC close approach of 506459. Catalogue miss distance 40.6 LD · 1.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-07-21 to 2039-07-27, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2039-07-24 04:32:00 | Earth | 0.1043 AU | 40.6 LD | 13.3 km/s |
| 2041-01-22 00:29:00 | Earth | 0.1408 AU | 54.8 LD | 12.5 km/s |
| 2058-08-04 20:50:00 | Earth | 0.0992 AU | 38.6 LD | 12.5 km/s |
| 2059-01-30 08:23:00 | Earth | 0.1704 AU | 66.3 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2076-07-20 14:58:00 | Earth | 0.1314 AU | 51.2 LD | 13.7 km/s |
| 2078-01-23 11:18:00 | Earth | 0.1316 AU | 51.2 LD | 12.3 km/s |
| 2095-08-02 15:46:00 | Earth | 0.0832 AU | 32.4 LD | 12.6 km/s |
| 2096-02-01 01:54:00 | Earth | 0.1862 AU | 72.4 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2113-07-20 07:58:00 | Earth | 0.1488 AU | 57.9 LD | 13.9 km/s |
| 2115-01-25 12:35:00 | Earth | 0.1293 AU | 50.3 LD | 12.2 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB