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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2015 ME131

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(2015 ME131)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.69 AU
True anomaly
307.57°
Distance from Earth
0.767 AU
As of
17 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 ME131 — 0.69 AU from the Sun 2015 ME131
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 ME131 is 0.767 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 15m 06s
Declination
+29° 24′ 14″
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.49° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.816 AU
Eccentricity
0.2122
Inclination
33.64°
Orbital period
269.4 days
Perihelion
0.643 AU
Aphelion
0.99 AU
Longitude of ascending node
317.77°
Argument of periapsis
156.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 17.4 LD
0.0447 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.018

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
62
Data arc
8.15 years
First observed
23 June 2015
Last observed
18 August 2023
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 August 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.69

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 RX8

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 170 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 ME131 at 2029-02-11 00:12 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-02-11 00:12 UTC close approach of 2015 ME131. Catalogue miss distance 129.4 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-02-08 to 2029-02-14, 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 129.4 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km 2029-02-11 00:12 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-02-11 00:12 UTC close approach of 2015 ME131. Catalogue miss distance 129.4 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-02-08 to 2029-02-14, 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
2029-02-11 00:12:00 Earth 0.3326 AU 129.4 LD 22.6 km/s
2032-01-16 04:31:00 Earth 0.3895 AU 151.6 LD 22.5 km/s
2034-08-18 19:21:00 Earth 0.4036 AU 157.1 LD 19.6 km/s
2035-01-02 11:05:00 Venus 0.1427 AU 55.5 LD 25 km/s
2037-08-13 04:05:00 Earth 0.1354 AU 52.7 LD 16.6 km/s
2038-09-10 23:39:00 Venus 0.1321 AU 51.4 LD 24.8 km/s
2040-03-19 13:17:00 Earth 0.447 AU 174.0 LD 22.2 km/s
2040-08-05 11:15:00 Earth 0.1519 AU 59.1 LD 18 km/s
2042-05-20 17:48:00 Venus 0.1252 AU 48.7 LD 24.7 km/s
2043-02-21 15:46:00 Earth 0.3448 AU 134.2 LD 22.6 km/s

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

Sources