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Asteroid Near-Earth

2006 DM63

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(2006 DM63)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.44 AU
True anomaly
292.59°
Distance from Earth
1.13 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2006 DM63 — 0.44 AU from the Sun 2006 DM63
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2006 DM63 is 1.13 AU from Earth today (9.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 53m 09s
Declination
-17° 05′ 01″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.78° — 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
0.696 AU
Eccentricity
0.4971
Inclination
1.78°
Orbital period
211.9 days
Perihelion
0.35 AU
Aphelion
1.042 AU
Longitude of ascending node
336.43°
Argument of periapsis
17.43°
Epoch · J2000
2453794.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.3 LD
0.0007 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.114

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
19
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
27 February 2006
Last observed
28 February 2006
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.7

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 23 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2006 DM63 at 2027-03-31 05:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-31 05:40 UTC close approach of 2006 DM63. Catalogue miss distance 118.9 LD · 4.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-28 to 2027-04-03, 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 118.9 LD · 4.57 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-31 05:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-31 05:40 UTC close approach of 2006 DM63. Catalogue miss distance 118.9 LD · 4.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-28 to 2027-04-03, 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
2027-03-31 05:40:00 Earth 0.3056 AU 118.9 LD 21.2 km/s
2028-02-24 11:31:00 Earth 0.279 AU 108.6 LD 20.1 km/s
2029-08-13 02:41:00 Venus 0.0815 AU 31.7 LD 14.8 km/s
2056-03-30 02:50:00 Earth 0.3172 AU 123.4 LD 21.6 km/s
2057-02-05 23:16:00 Venus 0.0858 AU 33.4 LD 14.3 km/s
2057-02-23 08:02:00 Earth 0.2646 AU 103.0 LD 19.6 km/s
2066-12-11 20:53:00 Venus 0.0204 AU 7.9 LD 17.5 km/s
2067-04-02 07:14:00 Earth 0.2503 AU 97.4 LD 19.2 km/s
2068-02-26 18:02:00 Earth 0.3344 AU 130.1 LD 22 km/s

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

Sources