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Asteroid Near-Earth

2008 WQ2

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(2008 WQ2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.018 AU
True anomaly
173.95°
Distance from Earth
0.52 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 2008 WQ2 — 1.018 AU from the Sun 2008 WQ2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2008 WQ2 is 0.52 AU from Earth today (4.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 45m 32s
Declination
+16° 46′ 17″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
77.54° — 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
0.847 AU
Eccentricity
0.2047
Inclination
13.45°
Orbital period
284.5 days
Perihelion
0.673 AU
Aphelion
1.02 AU
Longitude of ascending node
234.04°
Argument of periapsis
8.29°
Epoch · J2000
2454791.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.7 LD
0.0275 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.915

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
23
Data arc
2 days
First observed
20 November 2008
Last observed
22 November 2008
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2008 WQ2 at 2026-12-15 05:21 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-15 05:21 UTC close approach of 2008 WQ2. Catalogue miss distance 133.3 LD · 5.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-12 to 2026-12-18, 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 133.3 LD · 5.12 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-15 05:21 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-15 05:21 UTC close approach of 2008 WQ2. Catalogue miss distance 133.3 LD · 5.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-12 to 2026-12-18, 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
2026-12-15 05:21:00 Earth 0.3424 AU 133.3 LD 14.5 km/s
2029-11-03 13:36:00 Earth 0.2701 AU 105.1 LD 13.7 km/s
2036-11-05 10:34:00 Earth 0.388 AU 151.0 LD 17.4 km/s
2061-11-07 11:20:00 Earth 0.0832 AU 32.4 LD 8.8 km/s
2065-12-13 14:31:00 Earth 0.4243 AU 165.1 LD 17.3 km/s
2068-11-03 16:29:00 Earth 0.1792 AU 69.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2072-12-14 10:15:00 Earth 0.3267 AU 127.2 LD 14 km/s
2075-11-04 08:07:00 Earth 0.2807 AU 109.2 LD 14 km/s
2079-12-12 21:42:00 Earth 0.2312 AU 90.0 LD 10.9 km/s
2082-11-05 22:43:00 Earth 0.3863 AU 150.4 LD 17.3 km/s

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

Sources