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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 WJ2

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(2017 WJ2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.969 AU
True anomaly
112.06°
Distance from Earth
0.163 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 WJ2 — 0.969 AU from the Sun 2017 WJ2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 WJ2 is 0.163 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 07m 44s
Declination
-52° 08′ 25″
Constellation
Carina
Distance from Earth
0.16 AU
Elongation from the Sun
75.24° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.934 AU
Eccentricity
0.1611
Inclination
21.94°
Orbital period
329.9 days
Perihelion
0.784 AU
Aphelion
1.085 AU
Longitude of ascending node
44.2°
Argument of periapsis
223.08°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 14.4 LD
0.0371 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.345

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
27
Data arc
26 days
First observed
28 October 2017
Last observed
23 November 2017
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 79 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 WJ2 at 2026-11-05 04:22 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-05 04:22 UTC close approach of 2017 WJ2. Catalogue miss distance 15.6 LD · 5.98 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-02 to 2026-11-08, 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 15.6 LD · 5.98 × 10⁶ km 2026-11-05 04:22 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-05 04:22 UTC close approach of 2017 WJ2. Catalogue miss distance 15.6 LD · 5.98 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-02 to 2026-11-08, 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
2026-11-05 04:22:00 Earth 0.04 AU 15.6 LD 11.8 km/s
2027-05-16 18:48:00 Earth 0.2312 AU 90.0 LD 13.4 km/s
2028-03-13 10:58:00 Earth 0.3944 AU 153.5 LD 17.7 km/s
2035-11-05 13:38:00 Earth 0.1536 AU 59.8 LD 14.1 km/s
2036-06-07 21:56:00 Earth 0.3145 AU 122.4 LD 13.2 km/s
2036-11-29 19:54:00 Earth 0.3795 AU 147.7 LD 12.5 km/s
2037-03-30 16:54:00 Earth 0.2713 AU 105.6 LD 15.2 km/s
2038-03-21 05:17:00 Venus 0.1477 AU 57.5 LD 14 km/s
2044-11-08 01:29:00 Earth 0.3258 AU 126.8 LD 18.1 km/s
2045-11-13 05:02:00 Earth 0.2351 AU 91.5 LD 11.6 km/s

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

Sources