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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 YU3

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(2017 YU3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.624 AU
True anomaly
57.04°
Distance from Earth
1.267 AU
As of
23 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 YU3 — 0.624 AU from the Sun 2017 YU3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 YU3 is 1.267 AU from Earth today (10.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 54m 13s
Declination
-21° 08′ 36″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.6° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.965 AU
Eccentricity
0.4435
Inclination
7.05°
Orbital period
346.2 days
Perihelion
0.537 AU
Aphelion
1.393 AU
Longitude of ascending node
98.47°
Argument of periapsis
134.43°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.6 LD
0.0323 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.158

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
49
Data arc
24 days
First observed
23 December 2017
Last observed
16 January 2018
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 128 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 YU3 at 2029-10-01 20:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-01 20:41 UTC close approach of 2017 YU3. Catalogue miss distance 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-28 to 2029-10-04, 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 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-01 20:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-01 20:41 UTC close approach of 2017 YU3. Catalogue miss distance 163.7 LD · 6.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-28 to 2029-10-04, 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
2029-10-01 20:41:00 Earth 0.4206 AU 163.7 LD 26.4 km/s
2030-09-18 22:31:00 Earth 0.1516 AU 59.0 LD 16.8 km/s
2031-07-21 14:53:00 Venus 0.1324 AU 51.5 LD 10.8 km/s
2031-09-21 11:42:00 Earth 0.2458 AU 95.7 LD 8.8 km/s
2032-06-29 11:09:00 Earth 0.4237 AU 164.9 LD 15.8 km/s
2032-10-27 20:26:00 Earth 0.3923 AU 152.7 LD 10.9 km/s
2033-05-26 06:24:00 Earth 0.4746 AU 184.7 LD 19.4 km/s
2033-11-22 13:15:00 Earth 0.4115 AU 160.1 LD 11.5 km/s
2034-04-23 22:02:00 Earth 0.4658 AU 181.3 LD 18.5 km/s
2034-12-19 09:54:00 Earth 0.3236 AU 126.0 LD 10.5 km/s

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

Sources