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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 VL1

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(2017 VL1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.805 AU
True anomaly
281.86°
Distance from Earth
1.8 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 VL1 — 0.805 AU from the Sun 2017 VL1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 VL1 is 1.8 AU from Earth today (15.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 50m 14s
Declination
-12° 01′ 04″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.8 AU
Elongation from the Sun
0.64° — 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
0.951 AU
Eccentricity
0.3136
Inclination
4.34°
Orbital period
338.5 days
Perihelion
0.652 AU
Aphelion
1.249 AU
Longitude of ascending node
229.01°
Argument of periapsis
58.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.9 LD
0.0075 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.284

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
24
Data arc
11 days
First observed
10 November 2017
Last observed
21 November 2017
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 104 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 VL1 at 2029-11-19 09:09 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-19 09:09 UTC close approach of 2017 VL1. Catalogue miss distance 153.1 LD · 5.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-16 to 2029-11-22, 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 153.1 LD · 5.89 × 10⁷ km 2029-11-19 09:09 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-19 09:09 UTC close approach of 2017 VL1. Catalogue miss distance 153.1 LD · 5.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-16 to 2029-11-22, 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
2027-10-13 06:25:00 Venus 0.0216 AU 8.4 LD 9.4 km/s
2029-09-01 07:23:00 Venus 0.0775 AU 30.1 LD 8.2 km/s
2029-11-19 09:09:00 Earth 0.3934 AU 153.1 LD 22.2 km/s
2030-11-05 15:13:00 Earth 0.0464 AU 18.1 LD 8.7 km/s
2031-07-26 16:34:00 Venus 0.1044 AU 40.6 LD 8.2 km/s
2031-08-10 04:31:00 Earth 0.3467 AU 134.9 LD 11.6 km/s
2032-01-04 21:22:00 Earth 0.275 AU 107.0 LD 8.3 km/s
2032-06-12 10:04:00 Earth 0.3498 AU 136.1 LD 12.2 km/s
2033-03-14 04:12:00 Earth 0.1077 AU 41.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2034-02-28 05:27:00 Earth 0.3612 AU 140.6 LD 20.9 km/s

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

Sources