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Asteroid Near-Earth

2001 UP

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(2001 UP)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.886 AU
True anomaly
252.92°
Distance from Earth
0.413 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 2001 UP — 0.886 AU from the Sun 2001 UP
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2001 UP is 0.413 AU from Earth today (3.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 02m 09s
Declination
+19° 57′ 08″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
62.4° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.884 AU
Eccentricity
0.2872
Inclination
7.69°
Orbital period
303.5 days
Perihelion
0.63 AU
Aphelion
1.138 AU
Longitude of ascending node
25.39°
Argument of periapsis
133.5°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.6 LD
0.0067 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.67

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
42
Data arc
4 days
First observed
16 October 2001
Last observed
20 October 2001
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 186 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2001 UP at 2030-07-13 05:34 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-07-13 05:34 UTC close approach of 2001 UP. Catalogue miss distance 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-07-10 to 2030-07-16, 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 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km 2030-07-13 05:34 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-07-13 05:34 UTC close approach of 2001 UP. Catalogue miss distance 53.0 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-07-10 to 2030-07-16, 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
2026-10-09 23:58:00 Earth 0.4186 AU 162.9 LD 20.8 km/s
2029-05-17 23:56:00 Venus 0.087 AU 33.8 LD 10.6 km/s
2030-07-13 05:34:00 Earth 0.1361 AU 53.0 LD 7.9 km/s
2031-01-31 10:13:00 Earth 0.3539 AU 137.7 LD 11.4 km/s
2031-12-21 06:39:00 Venus 0.0886 AU 34.5 LD 8.3 km/s
2034-07-14 08:28:00 Venus 0.1012 AU 39.4 LD 13 km/s
2035-07-29 12:25:00 Earth 0.1559 AU 60.7 LD 5.9 km/s
2036-01-16 22:13:00 Earth 0.3336 AU 129.8 LD 9.9 km/s
2040-06-05 08:00:00 Earth 0.2265 AU 88.2 LD 5.5 km/s
2040-08-24 10:04:00 Earth 0.1688 AU 65.7 LD 6.4 km/s

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

Sources