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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 AB44

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(2015 AB44)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.69 AU
True anomaly
6.48°
Distance from Earth
1.568 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2015 AB44 — 0.69 AU from the Sun 2015 AB44
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 AB44 is 1.568 AU from Earth today (13.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 09m 37s
Declination
-12° 27′ 14″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.69° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.97 AU
Eccentricity
0.29
Inclination
15.08°
Orbital period
349 days
Perihelion
0.689 AU
Aphelion
1.251 AU
Longitude of ascending node
123.18°
Argument of periapsis
122.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 17.6 LD
0.0453 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.162

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
70
Data arc
405 days
First observed
21 December 2014
Last observed
30 January 2016
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 167 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 AB44 at 2031-10-01 17:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-01 17:08 UTC close approach of 2015 AB44. Catalogue miss distance 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-09-28 to 2031-10-04, 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 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km 2031-10-01 17:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-01 17:08 UTC close approach of 2015 AB44. Catalogue miss distance 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-09-28 to 2031-10-04, 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
2029-09-30 18:42:00 Venus 0.1331 AU 51.8 LD 15.7 km/s
2031-10-01 17:08:00 Earth 0.4489 AU 174.7 LD 22.4 km/s
2032-09-14 09:41:00 Earth 0.2362 AU 91.9 LD 15 km/s
2033-08-16 06:12:00 Earth 0.2008 AU 78.1 LD 11.1 km/s
2034-07-07 01:39:00 Earth 0.306 AU 119.1 LD 12.5 km/s
2034-11-27 19:55:00 Earth 0.367 AU 142.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2035-05-29 13:01:00 Earth 0.3725 AU 144.9 LD 12.6 km/s
2036-01-05 01:49:00 Earth 0.2767 AU 107.7 LD 9.3 km/s
2036-04-10 21:02:00 Earth 0.3533 AU 137.5 LD 8.5 km/s
2037-01-30 04:12:00 Earth 0.073 AU 28.4 LD 10.5 km/s

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

Sources