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Asteroid Near-Earth

2009 FW25

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(2009 FW25)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.732 AU
True anomaly
284.42°
Distance from Earth
1.616 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 FW25 — 0.732 AU from the Sun 2009 FW25
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 FW25 is 1.616 AU from Earth today (13.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 42m 00s
Declination
-21° 09′ 46″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.67° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.882 AU
Eccentricity
0.3214
Inclination
12.36°
Orbital period
302.5 days
Perihelion
0.598 AU
Aphelion
1.165 AU
Longitude of ascending node
0.11°
Argument of periapsis
323.86°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 16.2 LD
0.0417 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.661

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
21
Data arc
6 days
First observed
24 March 2009
Last observed
30 March 2009
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.42

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 96 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2009 FW25 at 2043-03-30 22:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-03-30 22:57 UTC close approach of 2009 FW25. Catalogue miss distance 31.2 LD · 1.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-03-27 to 2043-04-02, 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 31.2 LD · 1.2 × 10⁷ km 2043-03-30 22:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-03-30 22:57 UTC close approach of 2009 FW25. Catalogue miss distance 31.2 LD · 1.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-03-27 to 2043-04-02, 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
2043-03-30 22:57:00 Earth 0.0801 AU 31.2 LD 12.6 km/s
2048-03-26 07:22:00 Earth 0.2491 AU 97.0 LD 17.7 km/s
2053-03-20 06:46:00 Earth 0.4258 AU 165.7 LD 23.3 km/s
2066-01-05 05:39:00 Earth 0.4809 AU 187.1 LD 23.3 km/s
2067-03-27 23:42:00 Earth 0.0706 AU 27.5 LD 9.6 km/s
2070-12-28 15:38:00 Earth 0.3342 AU 130.1 LD 17.7 km/s
2072-03-29 21:14:00 Earth 0.1108 AU 43.1 LD 13.5 km/s
2075-12-21 11:01:00 Earth 0.226 AU 88.0 LD 12.2 km/s
2077-03-25 20:47:00 Earth 0.2749 AU 107.0 LD 18.5 km/s
2081-07-15 03:43:00 Earth 0.4252 AU 165.5 LD 14 km/s

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

Sources