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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 MA

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(2022 MA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.005 AU
True anomaly
143.19°
Distance from Earth
1.856 AU
As of
21 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 MA — 1.005 AU from the Sun 2022 MA
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 MA is 1.856 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 14m 16s
Declination
-17° 06′ 08″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.06° — 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
0.916 AU
Eccentricity
0.1306
Inclination
7.63°
Orbital period
320.2 days
Perihelion
0.796 AU
Aphelion
1.036 AU
Longitude of ascending node
84.68°
Argument of periapsis
24.25°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.2 LD
0.0057 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.506

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
42
Data arc
3 days
First observed
16 June 2022
Last observed
19 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.33

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 80 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 MA at 2029-06-08 21:53 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-06-08 21:53 UTC close approach of 2022 MA. Catalogue miss distance 32.2 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-06-05 to 2029-06-11, 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 32.2 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km 2029-06-08 21:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-06-08 21:53 UTC close approach of 2022 MA. Catalogue miss distance 32.2 LD · 1.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-06-05 to 2029-06-11, 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
2029-06-08 21:53:00 Earth 0.0827 AU 32.2 LD 6 km/s
2029-11-16 06:27:00 Earth 0.1625 AU 63.2 LD 5.6 km/s
2036-06-09 00:06:00 Earth 0.2055 AU 80.0 LD 9.2 km/s
2036-12-14 01:40:00 Earth 0.1772 AU 69.0 LD 6.5 km/s
2037-08-04 02:49:00 Earth 0.4533 AU 176.4 LD 15.6 km/s
2043-06-13 11:30:00 Earth 0.3424 AU 133.3 LD 13.2 km/s
2044-01-13 00:34:00 Earth 0.1937 AU 75.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2044-08-07 19:06:00 Earth 0.3222 AU 125.4 LD 11.4 km/s
2050-06-18 05:05:00 Earth 0.4813 AU 187.3 LD 17.3 km/s
2051-02-15 00:46:00 Earth 0.2006 AU 78.1 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources