Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 KQ18

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2015 KQ18)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.514 AU
True anomaly
36.05°
Distance from Earth
0.607 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 2015 KQ18 — 0.514 AU from the Sun 2015 KQ18
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 KQ18 is 0.607 AU from Earth today (5.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 04m 31s
Declination
-00° 02′ 40″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
0.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.09° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.859 AU
Eccentricity
0.437
Inclination
5.71°
Orbital period
291 days
Perihelion
0.484 AU
Aphelion
1.235 AU
Longitude of ascending node
53.86°
Argument of periapsis
326.41°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.1 LD
0.0182 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.782

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
37
Data arc
7 days
First observed
18 May 2015
Last observed
25 May 2015
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.38

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 187 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 KQ18 at 2027-05-21 03:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-21 03:27 UTC close approach of 2015 KQ18. Catalogue miss distance 78.2 LD · 3.01 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-18 to 2027-05-24, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 78.2 LD · 3.01 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-21 03:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-21 03:27 UTC close approach of 2015 KQ18. Catalogue miss distance 78.2 LD · 3.01 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-18 to 2027-05-24, 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. 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
2027-05-21 03:27:00 Earth 0.2009 AU 78.2 LD 18.6 km/s
2030-02-22 01:11:00 Earth 0.0992 AU 38.6 LD 12.8 km/s
2031-05-17 17:29:00 Earth 0.2946 AU 114.7 LD 21.6 km/s
2034-02-23 21:13:00 Earth 0.1204 AU 46.9 LD 10.2 km/s
2034-08-20 07:45:00 Venus 0.068 AU 26.4 LD 12.9 km/s
2035-05-14 00:50:00 Earth 0.3848 AU 149.8 LD 24.4 km/s
2038-01-08 23:54:00 Venus 0.0537 AU 20.9 LD 13.7 km/s
2038-03-05 21:07:00 Earth 0.1742 AU 67.8 LD 9.2 km/s
2038-09-07 06:09:00 Earth 0.4951 AU 192.7 LD 18.8 km/s
2039-05-10 02:50:00 Earth 0.4744 AU 184.6 LD 27.4 km/s

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

Sources