2017 YQ8 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.59 AU to 1.39 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 359.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.078 AU
- True anomaly
- 234.75°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.927 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 10h 18m 52s
- Declination
- +10° 20′ 15″
- Constellation
- Leo
- Distance from Earth
- 0.92 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 68.17° — 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.
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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
- 0.989 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.406
- Inclination
- 17.08°
- Orbital period
- 359.1 days
- Perihelion
- 0.587 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.39 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 94.21°
- Argument of periapsis
- 124.32°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2458121.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 18.3 LD
- 0.0471 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.024
Orbit quality
Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).
- Observations used
- 25
- Data arc
- 11 days
- First observed
- 26 December 2017
- Last observed
- 6 January 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.61 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.6
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 14 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2152-12-24 20:31 UTC close approach of 2017 YQ8. Catalogue miss distance 125.4 LD · 4.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2152-12-21 to 2152-12-27, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2048-10-16 17:16:00 | Venus | 0.0969 AU | 37.7 LD | 19 km/s |
| 2053-09-20 11:44:00 | Venus | 0.1373 AU | 53.4 LD | 20.8 km/s |
| 2152-12-24 20:31:00 | Earth | 0.3223 AU | 125.4 LD | 23.9 km/s |
| 2153-12-21 06:42:00 | Earth | 0.4162 AU | 162.0 LD | 26.8 km/s |
| 2155-03-08 21:16:00 | Venus | 0.0918 AU | 35.7 LD | 12.6 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB