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Asteroid Near-Earth

2019 XH2

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(2019 XH2)

2019 XH2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.86 AU to 1.16 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 369.4 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.869 AU
True anomaly
28.32°
Distance from Earth
0.577 AU
As of
3 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2019 XH2 — 0.869 AU from the Sun 2019 XH2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2019 XH2 is 0.577 AU from Earth today (4.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 54m 09s
Declination
-28° 14′ 32″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.58 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.65° — 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
1.008 AU
Eccentricity
0.1511
Inclination
3.78°
Orbital period
369.4 days
Perihelion
0.855 AU
Aphelion
1.16 AU
Longitude of ascending node
76.1°
Argument of periapsis
261.68°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 3.1 LD
0.0079 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.032

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
22
Data arc
9 days
First observed
6 December 2019
Last observed
15 December 2019
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.9

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 92 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2019 XH2 at 2026-12-19 10:53 UTC Sun 173.1 LD · 6.65 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-19 10:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-19 10:53 UTC close approach of 2019 XH2. Catalogue miss distance 173.1 LD · 6.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-16 to 2026-12-22, 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
2026-12-19 10:53:00 Earth 0.4447 AU 173.1 LD 18.5 km/s
2047-01-20 23:52:00 Venus 0.1413 AU 55.0 LD 0.6 km/s
2061-03-12 00:56:00 Venus 0.1339 AU 52.1 LD 0.4 km/s
2075-05-02 10:51:00 Venus 0.1295 AU 50.4 LD 0.3 km/s
2089-06-15 16:31:00 Venus 0.1307 AU 50.8 LD 0.3 km/s
2094-04-30 09:03:00 Earth 0.4762 AU 185.3 LD 19.1 km/s
2095-05-03 16:58:00 Earth 0.4078 AU 158.7 LD 17.1 km/s
2096-05-05 19:08:00 Earth 0.3395 AU 132.1 LD 15 km/s
2097-05-09 02:23:00 Earth 0.2717 AU 105.7 LD 13 km/s
2098-05-12 05:53:00 Earth 0.2046 AU 79.6 LD 11 km/s

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

Sources