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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 HL31

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(2012 HL31)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.052 AU
True anomaly
222.83°
Distance from Earth
1.678 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 2012 HL31 — 1.052 AU from the Sun 2012 HL31
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 HL31 is 1.678 AU from Earth today (14.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 51m 23s
Declination
-31° 04′ 10″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
1.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.01° — 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
0.888 AU
Eccentricity
0.374
Inclination
19.81°
Orbital period
305.4 days
Perihelion
0.556 AU
Aphelion
1.22 AU
Longitude of ascending node
37.48°
Argument of periapsis
17.55°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 56.6 LD
0.1454 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.583

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
92
Data arc
10 years
First observed
28 April 2012
Last observed
28 April 2022
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.43

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 191 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 HL31 at 2027-04-08 02:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-08 02:49 UTC close approach of 2012 HL31. Catalogue miss distance 72.0 LD · 2.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-05 to 2027-04-11, 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 72.0 LD · 2.77 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-08 02:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-08 02:49 UTC close approach of 2012 HL31. Catalogue miss distance 72.0 LD · 2.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-05 to 2027-04-11, 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
2027-04-08 02:49:00 Earth 0.1851 AU 72.0 LD 14.9 km/s
2027-11-12 03:49:00 Earth 0.4362 AU 169.8 LD 20.9 km/s
2028-06-20 12:04:00 Earth 0.326 AU 126.9 LD 13.6 km/s
2032-04-07 15:01:00 Earth 0.255 AU 99.2 LD 17.4 km/s
2032-11-22 08:39:00 Earth 0.4424 AU 172.2 LD 20.6 km/s
2033-06-12 19:12:00 Earth 0.2991 AU 116.4 LD 12 km/s
2037-04-10 01:27:00 Earth 0.3428 AU 133.4 LD 20.4 km/s
2037-11-14 16:17:00 Venus 0.1463 AU 56.9 LD 16.2 km/s
2037-12-04 00:40:00 Earth 0.4475 AU 174.1 LD 19.9 km/s
2038-06-01 19:09:00 Earth 0.2815 AU 109.6 LD 11.7 km/s

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

Sources