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Asteroid Near-Earth

2009 YF

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(2009 YF)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.832 AU
True anomaly
28.02°
Distance from Earth
1.184 AU
As of
22 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 YF — 0.832 AU from the Sun 2009 YF
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 YF is 1.184 AU from Earth today (9.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 46m 37s
Declination
-23° 05′ 09″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.18 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.83° — 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
0.935 AU
Eccentricity
0.1214
Inclination
1.53°
Orbital period
330.3 days
Perihelion
0.822 AU
Aphelion
1.049 AU
Longitude of ascending node
87.48°
Argument of periapsis
193.59°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.6 LD
0.017 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.405

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
44
Data arc
17 days
First observed
17 December 2009
Last observed
3 January 2010
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 71 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2009 YF at 2030-02-14 15:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-02-14 15:17 UTC close approach of 2009 YF. Catalogue miss distance 164.2 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-02-11 to 2030-02-17, 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 164.2 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km 2030-02-14 15:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-02-14 15:17 UTC close approach of 2009 YF. Catalogue miss distance 164.2 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-02-11 to 2030-02-17, 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
2030-02-14 15:17:00 Earth 0.422 AU 164.2 LD 16.8 km/s
2032-02-09 10:14:00 Venus 0.1185 AU 46.1 LD 1.3 km/s
2034-02-03 23:18:00 Venus 0.1495 AU 58.2 LD 1.7 km/s
2037-11-08 21:34:00 Earth 0.1638 AU 63.8 LD 8.8 km/s
2038-06-30 18:49:00 Earth 0.1953 AU 76.0 LD 5.6 km/s
2039-02-23 21:20:00 Earth 0.1855 AU 72.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2046-11-17 15:35:00 Earth 0.4018 AU 156.4 LD 16.1 km/s
2056-11-06 08:26:00 Earth 0.0966 AU 37.6 LD 6.7 km/s
2058-02-21 17:12:00 Earth 0.2414 AU 94.0 LD 11.1 km/s
2062-11-26 09:25:00 Venus 0.0981 AU 38.2 LD 1.1 km/s

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

Sources