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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2010 PK9

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(2010 PK9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.657 AU
True anomaly
130.21°
Distance from Earth
1.363 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 2010 PK9 — 0.657 AU from the Sun 2010 PK9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2010 PK9 is 1.363 AU from Earth today (11.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 07m 57s
Declination
-21° 03′ 16″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.48° — 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
0.682 AU
Eccentricity
0.6759
Inclination
12.59°
Orbital period
205.8 days
Perihelion
0.221 AU
Aphelion
1.143 AU
Longitude of ascending node
306.51°
Argument of periapsis
195.65°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.1 LD
0.0157 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.149

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
123
Data arc
13.1 years
First observed
18 July 2010
Last observed
22 August 2023
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 August 2023

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.07 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.138
Absolute magnitude (H)
21.81

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 363 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2010 PK9 at 2027-09-03 22:29 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-03 22:29 UTC close approach of 2010 PK9. Catalogue miss distance 53.9 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-31 to 2027-09-06, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 1 Sep 6 Sep 53.9 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-03 22:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-03 22:29 UTC close approach of 2010 PK9. Catalogue miss distance 53.9 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-31 to 2027-09-06, 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. At closest approach the object is north 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
2027-09-03 22:29:00 Earth 0.1384 AU 53.9 LD 17.6 km/s
2027-10-27 08:34:00 Merc 0.0465 AU 18.1 LD 37.9 km/s
2027-10-27 08:34:00 Mercury 0.0465 AU 18.1 LD 37.9 km/s
2028-07-25 02:35:00 Earth 0.0461 AU 17.9 LD 18.1 km/s
2029-07-06 02:17:00 Merc 0.0428 AU 16.7 LD 31.3 km/s
2029-07-06 02:17:00 Mercury 0.0428 AU 16.7 LD 31.3 km/s
2031-03-17 00:49:00 Merc 0.0796 AU 31.0 LD 28 km/s
2031-03-17 00:49:00 Mercury 0.0796 AU 31.0 LD 28 km/s
2031-08-28 10:32:00 Earth 0.3539 AU 137.7 LD 27.2 km/s
2032-08-09 05:03:00 Earth 0.1366 AU 53.1 LD 14.3 km/s

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

Sources