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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 DL31

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(2012 DL31)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.748 AU
True anomaly
14.79°
Distance from Earth
0.344 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 2012 DL31 — 0.748 AU from the Sun 2012 DL31
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 DL31 is 0.344 AU from Earth today (2.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 58m 54s
Declination
-33° 11′ 51″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
0.34 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.32° — 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
0.958 AU
Eccentricity
0.2233
Inclination
9.51°
Orbital period
342.2 days
Perihelion
0.744 AU
Aphelion
1.171 AU
Longitude of ascending node
159.73°
Argument of periapsis
200.19°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 43.7 LD
0.1123 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.259

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
98
Data arc
13.96 years
First observed
24 February 2012
Last observed
9 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 February 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.71

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 74 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 DL31 at 2027-02-13 13:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-13 13:40 UTC close approach of 2012 DL31. Catalogue miss distance 54.9 LD · 2.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-10 to 2027-02-16, 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 54.9 LD · 2.11 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-13 13:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-13 13:40 UTC close approach of 2012 DL31. Catalogue miss distance 54.9 LD · 2.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-10 to 2027-02-16, 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
2027-02-13 13:40:00 Earth 0.1412 AU 54.9 LD 6.9 km/s
2028-04-17 21:45:00 Earth 0.1859 AU 72.3 LD 6.4 km/s
2042-02-17 03:16:00 Earth 0.1479 AU 57.6 LD 7 km/s
2043-04-24 04:03:00 Earth 0.183 AU 71.2 LD 6.2 km/s
2043-06-29 03:53:00 Earth 0.1976 AU 76.9 LD 6 km/s
2044-07-29 12:00:00 Venus 0.0745 AU 29.0 LD 8.1 km/s
2046-06-24 17:17:00 Venus 0.1203 AU 46.8 LD 9.8 km/s
2056-01-20 14:06:00 Earth 0.1865 AU 72.6 LD 11.4 km/s
2057-02-28 02:51:00 Earth 0.1663 AU 64.7 LD 7.1 km/s
2058-05-17 03:48:00 Earth 0.1706 AU 66.4 LD 5.8 km/s

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

Sources