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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2001 KF54

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(2001 KF54)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.841 AU
True anomaly
21.23°
Distance from Earth
0.271 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2001 KF54 — 0.841 AU from the Sun 2001 KF54
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2001 KF54 is 0.271 AU from Earth today (2.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 18m 15s
Declination
-22° 31′ 09″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.87° — 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
2.339 AU
Eccentricity
0.6501
Inclination
1.63°
Orbital period
3.58 years
Perihelion
0.818 AU
Aphelion
3.859 AU
Longitude of ascending node
172.48°
Argument of periapsis
170.86°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 8.0 LD
0.0207 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.243

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
114
Data arc
25.03 years
First observed
26 May 2001
Last observed
8 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.79

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 28 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2001 KF54 at 2026-11-06 03:38 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-06 03:38 UTC close approach of 2001 KF54. Catalogue miss distance 18.8 LD · 7.24 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-09, 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 4 Nov 9 Nov 18.8 LD · 7.24 × 10⁶ km 2026-11-06 03:38 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-06 03:38 UTC close approach of 2001 KF54. Catalogue miss distance 18.8 LD · 7.24 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-09, 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
2026-10-03 02:39:00 Venus 0.1278 AU 49.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2026-11-06 03:38:00 Earth 0.0484 AU 18.8 LD 16.4 km/s
2039-04-15 04:48:00 Juptr 1.7751 AU 690.8 LD 4.2 km/s
2044-10-16 23:35:00 Earth 0.1122 AU 43.7 LD 12.4 km/s
2062-07-04 19:16:00 Earth 0.0321 AU 12.5 LD 15.7 km/s
2069-10-12 01:20:00 Venus 0.1244 AU 48.4 LD 8.5 km/s
2075-02-14 21:13:00 Juptr 1.5926 AU 619.8 LD 3.7 km/s
2087-09-20 17:07:00 Earth 0.1865 AU 72.6 LD 12.8 km/s
2110-11-25 09:07:00 Juptr 1.5486 AU 602.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2112-11-01 23:31:00 Earth 0.0323 AU 12.6 LD 14.4 km/s

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

Sources