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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2011 WA

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(2011 WA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.058 AU
True anomaly
200.9°
Distance from Earth
1.173 AU
As of
19 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 WA — 1.058 AU from the Sun 2011 WA
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2011 WA is 1.173 AU from Earth today (9.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 44m 45s
Declination
+29° 12′ 12″
Constellation
Leo Minor
Distance from Earth
1.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.73° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.845 AU
Eccentricity
0.2857
Inclination
30.38°
Orbital period
283.5 days
Perihelion
0.603 AU
Aphelion
1.086 AU
Longitude of ascending node
51.5°
Argument of periapsis
206.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 19.5 LD
0.05 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.827

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
279
Data arc
14.01 years
First observed
16 November 2011
Last observed
18 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.68

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 54 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2011 WA at 2032-11-15 20:19 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-11-15 20:19 UTC close approach of 2011 WA. Catalogue miss distance 71.0 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-11-12 to 2032-11-18, 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 71.0 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km 2032-11-15 20:19 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-11-15 20:19 UTC close approach of 2011 WA. Catalogue miss distance 71.0 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-11-12 to 2032-11-18, 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
2032-11-15 20:19:00 Earth 0.1825 AU 71.0 LD 15.3 km/s
2033-04-10 05:47:00 Venus 0.1317 AU 51.2 LD 21.3 km/s
2036-05-23 17:37:00 Venus 0.1393 AU 54.2 LD 19.6 km/s
2051-02-17 12:51:00 Venus 0.1005 AU 39.1 LD 20.2 km/s
2056-11-12 02:36:00 Earth 0.1492 AU 58.1 LD 18 km/s
2063-11-12 13:24:00 Earth 0.0853 AU 33.2 LD 16.9 km/s
2068-12-29 00:05:00 Venus 0.1268 AU 49.4 LD 19.6 km/s
2070-11-12 13:38:00 Earth 0.0504 AU 19.6 LD 16.1 km/s
2077-11-13 01:53:00 Earth 0.0743 AU 28.9 LD 15.6 km/s
2083-09-27 15:58:00 Venus 0.0995 AU 38.7 LD 20.1 km/s

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

Sources