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Asteroid Near-Earth

2010 AF

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(2010 AF)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.685 AU
True anomaly
20.42°
Distance from Earth
0.543 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 2010 AF — 0.685 AU from the Sun 2010 AF
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2010 AF is 0.543 AU from Earth today (4.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 06m 19s
Declination
-49° 33′ 07″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
0.54 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.01° — 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
0.962 AU
Eccentricity
0.2978
Inclination
23.6°
Orbital period
344.7 days
Perihelion
0.676 AU
Aphelion
1.249 AU
Longitude of ascending node
105.22°
Argument of periapsis
242.88°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.5 LD
0.0244 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.16

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
27
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
6 January 2010
Last observed
7 January 2010
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2010 AF at 2027-01-03 12:28 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-03 12:28 UTC close approach of 2010 AF. Catalogue miss distance 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-31 to 2027-01-06, 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 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-03 12:28 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-03 12:28 UTC close approach of 2010 AF. Catalogue miss distance 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-31 to 2027-01-06, 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
2027-01-03 12:28:00 Earth 0.1107 AU 43.1 LD 13.2 km/s
2042-01-19 13:43:00 Earth 0.4824 AU 187.7 LD 26.9 km/s
2043-01-07 16:02:00 Earth 0.1475 AU 57.4 LD 17.9 km/s
2044-01-05 09:01:00 Earth 0.1903 AU 74.1 LD 12.5 km/s
2051-03-28 10:24:00 Venus 0.1226 AU 47.7 LD 18.9 km/s
2059-01-16 21:06:00 Earth 0.4066 AU 158.2 LD 24.8 km/s
2060-01-05 21:34:00 Earth 0.0717 AU 27.9 LD 16.2 km/s
2061-01-08 08:47:00 Earth 0.2595 AU 101.0 LD 12.3 km/s
2061-09-03 18:29:00 Earth 0.4385 AU 170.7 LD 14.6 km/s
2062-07-20 04:31:00 Earth 0.2961 AU 115.2 LD 15.4 km/s

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

Sources