2001 GO2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.84 AU to 1.18 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 368.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.17 AU
- True anomaly
- 192.38°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.772 AU
- As of
- 3 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 16m 17s
- Declination
- -20° 01′ 39″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 1.77 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 38.42° — 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.
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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
- 1.007 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1683
- Inclination
- 4.62°
- Orbital period
- 368.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.837 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.176 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 193.49°
- Argument of periapsis
- 265.58°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
- 0.004 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.034
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 24
- Data arc
- 4 days
- First observed
- 13 April 2001
- Last observed
- 17 April 2001
- Residual RMS
- 0.64 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 14 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.3
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 70 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2087-09-03 11:38 UTC close approach of 2001 GO2. Catalogue miss distance 185.9 LD · 7.14 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2087-08-31 to 2087-09-06, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2037-05-10 01:08:00 | Venus | 0.1373 AU | 53.4 LD | 3.5 km/s |
| 2062-07-21 09:56:00 | Venus | 0.1497 AU | 58.2 LD | 4 km/s |
| 2087-09-03 11:38:00 | Earth | 0.4776 AU | 185.9 LD | 18.9 km/s |
| 2088-09-05 14:39:00 | Earth | 0.4171 AU | 162.3 LD | 17.1 km/s |
| 2089-09-08 21:10:00 | Earth | 0.3564 AU | 138.7 LD | 15.3 km/s |
| 2090-09-11 23:04:00 | Earth | 0.2963 AU | 115.3 LD | 13.6 km/s |
| 2091-09-15 05:12:00 | Earth | 0.2377 AU | 92.5 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2092-09-17 04:49:00 | Earth | 0.1804 AU | 70.2 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2093-09-20 05:46:00 | Earth | 0.1257 AU | 48.9 LD | 8.6 km/s |
| 2094-09-22 22:40:00 | Earth | 0.0758 AU | 29.5 LD | 7.1 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB