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Asteroid Near-Earth

2011 GP59

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(2011 GP59)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.815 AU
True anomaly
268.93°
Distance from Earth
1.673 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 GP59 — 0.815 AU from the Sun 2011 GP59
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2011 GP59 is 1.673 AU from Earth today (13.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 55m 52s
Declination
-19° 58′ 00″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
20.23° — 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
0.869 AU
Eccentricity
0.2578
Inclination
8.51°
Orbital period
295.9 days
Perihelion
0.645 AU
Aphelion
1.093 AU
Longitude of ascending node
24.31°
Argument of periapsis
319.29°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.2 LD
0.0031 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.769

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
225
Data arc
3.81 years
First observed
8 April 2011
Last observed
29 January 2015
Residual RMS
0.27 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.12 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 209 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2011 GP59 at 2027-11-03 09:22 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-11-03 09:22 UTC close approach of 2011 GP59. Catalogue miss distance 112.0 LD · 4.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-31 to 2027-11-06, 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 112.0 LD · 4.31 × 10⁷ km 2027-11-03 09:22 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-11-03 09:22 UTC close approach of 2011 GP59. Catalogue miss distance 112.0 LD · 4.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-31 to 2027-11-06, 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
2027-11-03 09:22:00 Earth 0.2878 AU 112.0 LD 9.5 km/s
2028-04-08 22:18:00 Earth 0.0659 AU 25.7 LD 6.6 km/s
2028-06-28 23:11:00 Venus 0.0866 AU 33.7 LD 7.5 km/s
2032-01-14 09:49:00 Earth 0.1456 AU 56.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2032-07-10 06:22:00 Earth 0.336 AU 130.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2036-01-22 11:54:00 Earth 0.3436 AU 133.7 LD 16.9 km/s
2036-08-24 09:00:00 Earth 0.3747 AU 145.8 LD 12.4 km/s
2037-04-05 00:02:00 Earth 0.4344 AU 169.1 LD 21 km/s
2040-10-04 01:04:00 Earth 0.3419 AU 133.0 LD 11.9 km/s
2041-04-15 07:06:00 Earth 0.1253 AU 48.8 LD 11.5 km/s

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

Sources