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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 SJ7

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(2015 SJ7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.42 AU
True anomaly
31.19°
Distance from Earth
1.4 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2015 SJ7 — 0.42 AU from the Sun 2015 SJ7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 SJ7 is 1.4 AU from Earth today (11.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 46m 50s
Declination
-11° 39′ 40″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.62° — 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
0.734 AU
Eccentricity
0.4536
Inclination
3.35°
Orbital period
229.6 days
Perihelion
0.401 AU
Aphelion
1.067 AU
Longitude of ascending node
6.17°
Argument of periapsis
185.01°
Epoch · J2000
2457289.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.5 LD
0.0168 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.759

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
31
Data arc
7 days
First observed
23 September 2015
Last observed
30 September 2015
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 61 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 SJ7 at 2027-06-21 08:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-21 08:18 UTC close approach of 2015 SJ7. Catalogue miss distance 184.9 LD · 7.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-18 to 2027-06-24, 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 184.9 LD · 7.11 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-21 08:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-21 08:18 UTC close approach of 2015 SJ7. Catalogue miss distance 184.9 LD · 7.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-18 to 2027-06-24, 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 21:47:00 Merc 0.0992 AU 38.6 LD 26.2 km/s
2027-05-21 21:47:00 Mercury 0.0992 AU 38.6 LD 26.2 km/s
2027-06-21 08:18:00 Earth 0.4752 AU 184.9 LD 12.5 km/s
2027-10-31 19:28:00 Earth 0.1293 AU 50.3 LD 14 km/s
2030-07-13 22:59:00 Merc 0.0321 AU 12.5 LD 15.3 km/s
2030-07-13 22:59:00 Mercury 0.0321 AU 12.5 LD 15.3 km/s
2030-09-15 13:39:00 Earth 0.3291 AU 128.1 LD 21.1 km/s
2032-10-27 18:08:00 Earth 0.0282 AU 11.0 LD 9.8 km/s
2035-09-21 05:31:00 Earth 0.4657 AU 181.2 LD 25.8 km/s
2036-11-08 09:48:00 Mercury 0.0414 AU 16.1 LD 21.1 km/s

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

Sources