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Asteroid Near-Earth

2015 XK55

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(2015 XK55)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.994 AU
True anomaly
131.57°
Distance from Earth
0.367 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 2015 XK55 — 0.994 AU from the Sun 2015 XK55
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2015 XK55 is 0.367 AU from Earth today (3.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 03m 09s
Declination
-01° 48′ 55″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
0.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
79.5° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.9 AU
Eccentricity
0.1955
Inclination
9.15°
Orbital period
311.6 days
Perihelion
0.724 AU
Aphelion
1.075 AU
Longitude of ascending node
243°
Argument of periapsis
352.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 32.0 LD
0.0821 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.59

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
40
Data arc
27 days
First observed
3 December 2015
Last observed
30 December 2015
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 23 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2015 XK55 at 2027-05-28 02:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-28 02:50 UTC close approach of 2015 XK55. Catalogue miss distance 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-25 to 2027-05-31, 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 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-28 02:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-28 02:50 UTC close approach of 2015 XK55. Catalogue miss distance 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-25 to 2027-05-31, 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
2026-10-12 17:28:00 Earth 0.3459 AU 134.6 LD 15.4 km/s
2027-05-28 02:50:00 Earth 0.2874 AU 111.9 LD 10.3 km/s
2027-12-30 23:25:00 Earth 0.2699 AU 105.0 LD 13.3 km/s
2032-10-10 02:25:00 Earth 0.1846 AU 71.8 LD 9.7 km/s
2033-04-29 15:12:00 Earth 0.2839 AU 110.5 LD 9.9 km/s
2033-12-25 00:50:00 Earth 0.4485 AU 174.5 LD 19.1 km/s
2037-08-20 12:04:00 Venus 0.0054 AU 2.1 LD 8.6 km/s

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

Sources