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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 KD5

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(2017 KD5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.16 AU
True anomaly
202.48°
Distance from Earth
1.462 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 2017 KD5 — 1.16 AU from the Sun 2017 KD5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 KD5 is 1.462 AU from Earth today (12.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 46m 02s
Declination
+15° 19′ 35″
Constellation
Hercules
Distance from Earth
1.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.19° — 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
0.886 AU
Eccentricity
0.3672
Inclination
50.06°
Orbital period
304.6 days
Perihelion
0.561 AU
Aphelion
1.211 AU
Longitude of ascending node
208.88°
Argument of periapsis
251.47°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 48.1 LD
0.1235 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.366

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
46
Data arc
4.99 years
First observed
9 May 2017
Last observed
5 May 2022
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.98

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 150 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 KD5 at 2027-04-15 09:39 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-15 09:39 UTC close approach of 2017 KD5. Catalogue miss distance 75.3 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-12 to 2027-04-18, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 75.3 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-15 09:39 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-15 09:39 UTC close approach of 2017 KD5. Catalogue miss distance 75.3 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-12 to 2027-04-18, 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 north 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
2027-04-15 09:39:00 Earth 0.1936 AU 75.3 LD 25.6 km/s
2027-11-11 07:28:00 Earth 0.4328 AU 168.4 LD 29.3 km/s
2032-04-15 14:49:00 Earth 0.1777 AU 69.2 LD 25.8 km/s
2032-11-12 06:07:00 Earth 0.4474 AU 174.1 LD 29.3 km/s
2037-04-16 20:00:00 Earth 0.1633 AU 63.6 LD 26 km/s
2037-11-14 04:37:00 Earth 0.4622 AU 179.9 LD 29.3 km/s
2037-11-17 12:28:00 Venus 0.0686 AU 26.7 LD 35.4 km/s
2042-04-17 19:57:00 Earth 0.1532 AU 59.6 LD 26.1 km/s
2042-11-15 16:49:00 Earth 0.4731 AU 184.1 LD 29.4 km/s
2043-02-08 13:31:00 Venus 0.1448 AU 56.3 LD 31.4 km/s

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

Sources