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Asteroid Near-Earth

2009 WY7

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(2009 WY7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.777 AU
True anomaly
218.95°
Distance from Earth
1.069 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2009 WY7 — 0.777 AU from the Sun 2009 WY7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 WY7 is 1.069 AU from Earth today (8.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 46m 16s
Declination
+09° 28′ 18″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.66° — 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
0.65 AU
Eccentricity
0.6087
Inclination
4.03°
Orbital period
191.3 days
Perihelion
0.254 AU
Aphelion
1.045 AU
Longitude of ascending node
64°
Argument of periapsis
172.41°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.9 LD
0.01 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.567

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
144
Data arc
11.02 years
First observed
19 November 2009
Last observed
25 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.21 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 400 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2009 WY7 at 2029-11-29 08:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-29 08:41 UTC close approach of 2009 WY7. Catalogue miss distance 146.8 LD · 5.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-26 to 2029-12-02, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 146.8 LD · 5.64 × 10⁷ km 2029-11-29 08:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-29 08:41 UTC close approach of 2009 WY7. Catalogue miss distance 146.8 LD · 5.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-26 to 2029-12-02, 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. 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
2029-11-29 08:41:00 Earth 0.3772 AU 146.8 LD 26.9 km/s
2030-12-07 09:56:00 Earth 0.126 AU 49.1 LD 17.6 km/s
2031-09-15 08:19:00 Venus 0.0411 AU 16.0 LD 23.8 km/s
2031-11-25 14:37:00 Earth 0.0514 AU 20.0 LD 12.1 km/s
2032-11-01 19:35:00 Earth 0.049 AU 19.1 LD 14.7 km/s
2033-01-31 14:41:00 Venus 0.0231 AU 9.0 LD 20.8 km/s
2033-02-26 13:25:00 Mercury 0.0593 AU 23.1 LD 45.5 km/s
2033-02-26 13:25:00 Merc 0.0593 AU 23.1 LD 45.5 km/s
2033-11-05 12:15:00 Earth 0.2841 AU 110.6 LD 23.5 km/s
2034-04-08 00:33:00 Merc 0.0274 AU 10.7 LD 39.8 km/s

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

Sources