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Asteroid Near-Earth

2009 TK8

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(2009 TK8)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.066 AU
True anomaly
132.36°
Distance from Earth
0.108 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2009 TK8 — 1.066 AU from the Sun 2009 TK8
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 TK8 is 0.108 AU from Earth today (54.1 light-seconds).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 15m 18s
Declination
-22° 56′ 30″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
0.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
129.38° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.929 AU
Eccentricity
0.3402
Inclination
21.16°
Orbital period
327.3 days
Perihelion
0.613 AU
Aphelion
1.246 AU
Longitude of ascending node
29.23°
Argument of periapsis
222.27°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 28.6 LD
0.0734 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.34

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
316
Data arc
17.01 years
First observed
15 October 2009
Last observed
18 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.17

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 51 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2009 TK8 at 2035-10-21 07:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-10-21 07:40 UTC close approach of 2009 TK8. Catalogue miss distance 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-10-18 to 2035-10-24, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km 2035-10-21 07:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-10-21 07:40 UTC close approach of 2009 TK8. Catalogue miss distance 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-10-18 to 2035-10-24, 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. 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
2026-10-15 02:57:00 Earth 0.0815 AU 31.7 LD 14.9 km/s
2035-10-21 07:40:00 Earth 0.1761 AU 68.5 LD 12.1 km/s
2047-12-31 09:24:00 Venus 0.0756 AU 29.4 LD 17.9 km/s
2052-10-14 22:13:00 Earth 0.0749 AU 29.1 LD 13.9 km/s
2057-11-10 06:07:00 Venus 0.0479 AU 18.6 LD 15.2 km/s
2067-09-26 08:36:00 Venus 0.1379 AU 53.7 LD 13.9 km/s
2069-10-16 07:21:00 Earth 0.1596 AU 62.1 LD 17.4 km/s
2078-10-16 05:40:00 Earth 0.0947 AU 36.8 LD 13.2 km/s
2079-05-14 07:05:00 Venus 0.1183 AU 46.1 LD 19.6 km/s
2089-03-24 02:09:00 Venus 0.0394 AU 15.3 LD 16.2 km/s

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

Sources