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Asteroid Near-Earth

2008 WT62

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(2008 WT62)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.878 AU
True anomaly
109.7°
Distance from Earth
1.116 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 2008 WT62 — 0.878 AU from the Sun 2008 WT62
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2008 WT62 is 1.116 AU from Earth today (9.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 47m 45s
Declination
-36° 28′ 54″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.12 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.89° — 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
0.884 AU
Eccentricity
0.3539
Inclination
18.19°
Orbital period
303.7 days
Perihelion
0.571 AU
Aphelion
1.197 AU
Longitude of ascending node
57.97°
Argument of periapsis
148.37°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 32.9 LD
0.0846 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.618

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
43
Data arc
9.98 years
First observed
24 November 2008
Last observed
17 November 2018
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 December 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.11

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 210 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2008 WT62 at 2027-09-03 05:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-03 05:56 UTC close approach of 2008 WT62. Catalogue miss distance 136.2 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-31 to 2027-09-06, 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 136.2 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-03 05:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-03 05:56 UTC close approach of 2008 WT62. Catalogue miss distance 136.2 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-31 to 2027-09-06, 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
2027-09-03 05:56:00 Earth 0.3499 AU 136.2 LD 15 km/s
2028-04-27 00:50:00 Earth 0.4408 AU 171.6 LD 19.3 km/s
2028-12-02 00:44:00 Earth 0.1318 AU 51.3 LD 15 km/s
2032-08-31 04:22:00 Earth 0.3243 AU 126.2 LD 12.7 km/s
2033-04-19 06:45:00 Earth 0.448 AU 174.3 LD 19.2 km/s
2033-05-08 03:35:00 Venus 0.1171 AU 45.6 LD 14.3 km/s
2033-12-01 09:27:00 Earth 0.1936 AU 75.3 LD 16.9 km/s
2037-09-02 10:34:00 Earth 0.3144 AU 122.3 LD 10.3 km/s
2038-04-11 10:04:00 Earth 0.4536 AU 176.5 LD 18.8 km/s
2038-11-29 23:50:00 Earth 0.2625 AU 102.2 LD 19.1 km/s

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

Sources