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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 BU6

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(2022 BU6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.809 AU
True anomaly
276.37°
Distance from Earth
1.724 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 2022 BU6 — 0.809 AU from the Sun 2022 BU6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 BU6 is 1.724 AU from Earth today (14.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 51m 25s
Declination
-06° 29′ 24″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.31° — 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
0.947 AU
Eccentricity
0.3376
Inclination
3.77°
Orbital period
336.5 days
Perihelion
0.627 AU
Aphelion
1.266 AU
Longitude of ascending node
324.63°
Argument of periapsis
294.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.0 LD
0.0026 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.297

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
23
Data arc
10 days
First observed
31 January 2022
Last observed
10 February 2022
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.95

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 54 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 BU6 at 2031-10-26 02:01 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-26 02:01 UTC close approach of 2022 BU6. Catalogue miss distance 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-23 to 2031-10-29, 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. Sun 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km 2031-10-26 02:01 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-26 02:01 UTC close approach of 2022 BU6. Catalogue miss distance 76.1 LD · 2.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-23 to 2031-10-29, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-12-06 17:45:00 Venus 0.0632 AU 24.6 LD 13 km/s
2029-10-09 19:37:00 Venus 0.0525 AU 20.4 LD 12.4 km/s
2031-08-14 15:44:00 Venus 0.05 AU 19.5 LD 12.2 km/s
2031-10-26 02:01:00 Earth 0.1956 AU 76.1 LD 7.1 km/s
2033-06-19 03:54:00 Venus 0.0541 AU 21.1 LD 12.5 km/s
2034-02-10 16:15:00 Earth 0.0498 AU 19.4 LD 12.2 km/s
2035-04-24 23:35:00 Venus 0.0603 AU 23.5 LD 12.9 km/s
2037-02-27 23:55:00 Venus 0.0709 AU 27.6 LD 13.4 km/s
2039-01-04 11:22:00 Venus 0.0899 AU 35.0 LD 14.4 km/s
2040-11-10 04:16:00 Venus 0.1155 AU 44.9 LD 15.7 km/s

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

Sources