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Asteroid Near-Earth

2002 FW1

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(2002 FW1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.835 AU
True anomaly
111.98°
Distance from Earth
1.531 AU
As of
19 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 2002 FW1 — 0.835 AU from the Sun 2002 FW1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2002 FW1 is 1.531 AU from Earth today (12.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 44m 19s
Declination
+00° 03′ 23″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.05° — 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
0.824 AU
Eccentricity
0.3416
Inclination
6.62°
Orbital period
273.3 days
Perihelion
0.543 AU
Aphelion
1.106 AU
Longitude of ascending node
164.3°
Argument of periapsis
223.22°
Epoch · J2000
2452358.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.3 LD
0.0085 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.057

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
14
Data arc
21 days
First observed
19 March 2002
Last observed
9 April 2002
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 28 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2002 FW1 at 2052-03-09 18:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-03-09 18:45 UTC close approach of 2002 FW1. Catalogue miss distance 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-03-06 to 2052-03-12, 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. Sun 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km 2052-03-09 18:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-03-09 18:45 UTC close approach of 2002 FW1. Catalogue miss distance 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-03-06 to 2052-03-12, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-04-03 16:26:00 Venus 0.1441 AU 56.1 LD 17.6 km/s
2038-08-27 17:32:00 Venus 0.1133 AU 44.1 LD 15.6 km/s
2049-02-07 09:14:00 Venus 0.0882 AU 34.3 LD 12 km/s
2051-11-20 20:46:00 Venus 0.0924 AU 36.0 LD 10.8 km/s
2052-03-09 18:45:00 Earth 0.1708 AU 66.5 LD 14.1 km/s
2055-03-08 17:40:00 Earth 0.0931 AU 36.2 LD 11.7 km/s
2058-03-08 07:39:00 Earth 0.0266 AU 10.4 LD 9.6 km/s
2059-07-25 02:05:00 Venus 0.0881 AU 34.3 LD 11.9 km/s
2061-03-09 05:31:00 Earth 0.0143 AU 5.6 LD 8.6 km/s
2062-05-11 03:33:00 Venus 0.1058 AU 41.2 LD 9.6 km/s

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

Sources