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Asteroid Near-Earth

2006 YM

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(2006 YM)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.845 AU
True anomaly
292.41°
Distance from Earth
1.81 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 2006 YM — 0.845 AU from the Sun 2006 YM
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2006 YM is 1.81 AU from Earth today (15.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 24m 17s
Declination
-02° 38′ 04″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.6° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.898 AU
Eccentricity
0.1231
Inclination
12.89°
Orbital period
311 days
Perihelion
0.788 AU
Aphelion
1.009 AU
Longitude of ascending node
86.31°
Argument of periapsis
171.06°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.9 LD
0.0229 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.596

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
34
Data arc
16.98 years
First observed
18 December 2006
Last observed
12 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 129 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2006 YM at 2029-07-29 18:59 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-29 18:59 UTC close approach of 2006 YM. Catalogue miss distance 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-26 to 2029-08-01, 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 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km 2029-07-29 18:59 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-29 18:59 UTC close approach of 2006 YM. Catalogue miss distance 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-26 to 2029-08-01, 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
2029-07-29 18:59:00 Earth 0.2371 AU 92.3 LD 8.3 km/s
2029-12-28 16:38:00 Earth 0.1453 AU 56.5 LD 8.8 km/s
2034-08-02 00:29:00 Venus 0.1124 AU 43.7 LD 6.9 km/s
2034-11-25 14:43:00 Earth 0.4458 AU 173.5 LD 16.5 km/s
2035-06-18 00:55:00 Earth 0.2275 AU 88.5 LD 9.6 km/s
2035-12-31 22:42:00 Earth 0.3869 AU 150.6 LD 15.3 km/s
2040-11-29 15:50:00 Earth 0.219 AU 85.2 LD 9.8 km/s
2041-05-08 03:17:00 Earth 0.2456 AU 95.6 LD 8.5 km/s
2045-08-30 07:33:00 Venus 0.0863 AU 33.6 LD 6.4 km/s
2046-12-18 08:02:00 Earth 0.0252 AU 9.8 LD 7 km/s

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

Sources