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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2000 WC1

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(2000 WC1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.952 AU
True anomaly
237.52°
Distance from Earth
1.764 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 2000 WC1 — 0.952 AU from the Sun 2000 WC1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2000 WC1 is 1.764 AU from Earth today (14.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 31m 16s
Declination
+06° 14′ 38″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.47° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.878 AU
Eccentricity
0.2621
Inclination
17.42°
Orbital period
300.7 days
Perihelion
0.648 AU
Aphelion
1.109 AU
Longitude of ascending node
50.76°
Argument of periapsis
230.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0055 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.68

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
62
Data arc
24.23 years
First observed
16 November 2000
Last observed
8 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.57

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 58 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2000 WC1 at 2033-11-16 12:38 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-11-16 12:38 UTC close approach of 2000 WC1. Catalogue miss distance 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-11-13 to 2033-11-19, 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 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km 2033-11-16 12:38 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-11-16 12:38 UTC close approach of 2000 WC1. Catalogue miss distance 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-11-13 to 2033-11-19, 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
2027-10-06 11:04:00 Venus 0.039 AU 15.2 LD 11.1 km/s
2030-04-02 08:19:00 Venus 0.116 AU 45.1 LD 9.9 km/s
2033-11-16 12:38:00 Earth 0.1252 AU 48.7 LD 9.7 km/s
2035-05-21 14:19:00 Venus 0.1409 AU 54.8 LD 11.2 km/s
2047-11-14 07:08:00 Earth 0.0417 AU 16.2 LD 10.7 km/s
2061-11-13 11:17:00 Moon 0.0057 AU 2.2 LD 11 km/s
2061-11-13 18:17:00 Earth 0.0058 AU 2.3 LD 11.4 km/s
2070-11-16 04:52:00 Earth 0.1264 AU 49.2 LD 14.4 km/s
2093-11-17 15:19:00 Earth 0.1366 AU 53.2 LD 9.6 km/s
2102-11-15 18:26:00 Earth 0.0707 AU 27.5 LD 10.3 km/s

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

Sources