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Asteroid Near-Earth

2009 DC1

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(2009 DC1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.632 AU
True anomaly
356.22°
Distance from Earth
0.521 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 2009 DC1 — 0.632 AU from the Sun 2009 DC1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 DC1 is 0.521 AU from Earth today (4.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 59m 01s
Declination
-14° 53′ 00″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
0.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.69° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.873 AU
Eccentricity
0.2764
Inclination
8.78°
Orbital period
298.2 days
Perihelion
0.632 AU
Aphelion
1.115 AU
Longitude of ascending node
329.59°
Argument of periapsis
34.93°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.1 LD
0.0311 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.736

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
51
Data arc
24 days
First observed
19 February 2009
Last observed
15 March 2009
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 46 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2009 DC1 at 2026-11-21 09:22 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-21 09:22 UTC close approach of 2009 DC1. Catalogue miss distance 126.3 LD · 4.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-18 to 2026-11-24, 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 126.3 LD · 4.85 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-21 09:22 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-21 09:22 UTC close approach of 2009 DC1. Catalogue miss distance 126.3 LD · 4.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-18 to 2026-11-24, 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
2026-11-21 09:22:00 Earth 0.3244 AU 126.3 LD 8.6 km/s
2026-11-27 16:17:00 Venus 0.1476 AU 57.4 LD 14.4 km/s
2027-04-09 22:49:00 Earth 0.1579 AU 61.5 LD 6.7 km/s
2029-05-12 04:32:00 Venus 0.1092 AU 42.5 LD 10.6 km/s
2031-02-08 14:53:00 Earth 0.1654 AU 64.4 LD 12.9 km/s
2031-09-01 02:57:00 Earth 0.3624 AU 141.0 LD 13 km/s
2031-10-28 10:19:00 Venus 0.1258 AU 48.9 LD 7.7 km/s
2035-11-05 18:47:00 Earth 0.3504 AU 136.4 LD 10.7 km/s
2036-05-03 08:27:00 Earth 0.1513 AU 58.9 LD 7 km/s
2040-02-07 09:30:00 Earth 0.0868 AU 33.8 LD 10.5 km/s

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

Sources