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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 RL15

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(2012 RL15)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.878 AU
True anomaly
252.56°
Distance from Earth
0.359 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 RL15 — 0.878 AU from the Sun 2012 RL15
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 RL15 is 0.359 AU from Earth today (3.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 44m 35s
Declination
-43° 28′ 50″
Constellation
Vela
Distance from Earth
0.36 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.69° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.877 AU
Eccentricity
0.2939
Inclination
26.5°
Orbital period
299.8 days
Perihelion
0.619 AU
Aphelion
1.134 AU
Longitude of ascending node
172.97°
Argument of periapsis
334.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 29.8 LD
0.0767 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.638

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
50
Data arc
8 days
First observed
14 September 2012
Last observed
22 September 2012
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 91 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 RL15 at 2030-05-10 04:13 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-10 04:13 UTC close approach of 2012 RL15. Catalogue miss distance 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-07 to 2030-05-13, 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 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km 2030-05-10 04:13 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-10 04:13 UTC close approach of 2012 RL15. Catalogue miss distance 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-07 to 2030-05-13, 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
2026-09-20 18:20:00 Earth 0.2484 AU 96.7 LD 18 km/s
2030-05-10 04:13:00 Earth 0.4206 AU 163.7 LD 16.9 km/s
2030-09-04 13:41:00 Earth 0.2693 AU 104.8 LD 13.8 km/s
2035-03-20 17:39:00 Earth 0.3557 AU 138.4 LD 20.2 km/s
2035-09-21 13:02:00 Earth 0.1272 AU 49.5 LD 15.3 km/s
2039-08-26 19:17:00 Earth 0.3588 AU 139.7 LD 14.6 km/s
2044-09-18 19:48:00 Earth 0.0774 AU 30.1 LD 13.9 km/s
2048-08-17 13:21:00 Earth 0.4341 AU 168.9 LD 15.7 km/s
2049-09-16 13:25:00 Earth 0.4248 AU 165.3 LD 22.7 km/s
2053-09-15 08:26:00 Earth 0.1265 AU 49.2 LD 13.5 km/s

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

Sources