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Asteroid Near-Earth

2011 CK50

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(2011 CK50)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.063 AU
True anomaly
216.05°
Distance from Earth
1.927 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2011 CK50 — 1.063 AU from the Sun 2011 CK50
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2011 CK50 is 1.927 AU from Earth today (16.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 24m 45s
Declination
-01° 19′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.93 AU
Elongation from the Sun
21.34° — 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
0.877 AU
Eccentricity
0.3225
Inclination
4.12°
Orbital period
300 days
Perihelion
0.594 AU
Aphelion
1.16 AU
Longitude of ascending node
133.33°
Argument of periapsis
176.84°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 19.8 LD
0.051 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.708

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
43
Data arc
14.07 years
First observed
12 February 2011
Last observed
10 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.12

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 150 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2011 CK50 at 2028-12-19 22:52 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-12-19 22:52 UTC close approach of 2011 CK50. Catalogue miss distance 39.5 LD · 1.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-12-16 to 2028-12-22, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 39.5 LD · 1.52 × 10⁷ km 2028-12-19 22:52 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-12-19 22:52 UTC close approach of 2011 CK50. Catalogue miss distance 39.5 LD · 1.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-12-16 to 2028-12-22, 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 south 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
2027-11-05 21:40:00 Venus 0.1209 AU 47.1 LD 8.5 km/s
2028-12-19 22:52:00 Earth 0.1015 AU 39.5 LD 7.4 km/s
2030-04-27 16:23:00 Venus 0.1285 AU 50.0 LD 9 km/s
2032-10-17 05:38:00 Venus 0.1338 AU 52.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2034-03-06 17:39:00 Earth 0.1153 AU 44.9 LD 7.2 km/s
2035-04-08 20:01:00 Venus 0.137 AU 53.3 LD 9.6 km/s
2037-09-28 22:33:00 Venus 0.1383 AU 53.8 LD 9.7 km/s
2037-12-12 22:34:00 Earth 0.1307 AU 50.9 LD 13 km/s
2040-03-21 20:39:00 Venus 0.1361 AU 53.0 LD 9.7 km/s
2042-09-12 16:36:00 Venus 0.1308 AU 50.9 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources