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Asteroid Near-Earth

2006 BA9

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(2006 BA9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.835 AU
True anomaly
98.48°
Distance from Earth
0.678 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2006 BA9 — 0.835 AU from the Sun 2006 BA9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2006 BA9 is 0.678 AU from Earth today (5.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 31m 46s
Declination
+18° 20′ 19″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.3° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.913 AU
Eccentricity
0.3661
Inclination
8.33°
Orbital period
318.5 days
Perihelion
0.579 AU
Aphelion
1.247 AU
Longitude of ascending node
305.79°
Argument of periapsis
25.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 28.1 LD
0.0722 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.472

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
68
Data arc
19.99 years
First observed
24 January 2006
Last observed
21 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 January 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.76

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 90 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2006 BA9 at 2033-01-02 10:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-01-02 10:04 UTC close approach of 2006 BA9. Catalogue miss distance 45.8 LD · 1.76 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-12-30 to 2033-01-05, 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 45.8 LD · 1.76 × 10⁷ km 2033-01-02 10:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-01-02 10:04 UTC close approach of 2006 BA9. Catalogue miss distance 45.8 LD · 1.76 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-12-30 to 2033-01-05, 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
2033-01-02 10:04:00 Earth 0.1178 AU 45.8 LD 9.3 km/s
2034-04-12 20:42:00 Earth 0.1695 AU 66.0 LD 8.6 km/s
2037-01-16 11:30:00 Venus 0.083 AU 32.3 LD 15.2 km/s
2041-04-14 18:25:00 Earth 0.1612 AU 62.7 LD 13.2 km/s
2047-07-02 06:15:00 Venus 0.0913 AU 35.5 LD 15.8 km/s
2052-12-31 05:10:00 Earth 0.1602 AU 62.4 LD 15.6 km/s
2057-12-14 07:17:00 Venus 0.1104 AU 43.0 LD 17 km/s
2059-12-30 14:38:00 Earth 0.0797 AU 31.0 LD 10.4 km/s
2061-04-03 22:19:00 Earth 0.1989 AU 77.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2067-01-17 20:34:00 Earth 0.1934 AU 75.3 LD 9 km/s

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

Sources