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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 RK

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(2022 RK)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.826 AU
True anomaly
262.42°
Distance from Earth
0.219 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2022 RK — 0.826 AU from the Sun 2022 RK
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 RK is 0.219 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 59m 53s
Declination
-36° 54′ 09″
Constellation
Centaurus
Distance from Earth
0.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.88° — 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
0.861 AU
Eccentricity
0.2738
Inclination
10.94°
Orbital period
291.7 days
Perihelion
0.625 AU
Aphelion
1.097 AU
Longitude of ascending node
157.79°
Argument of periapsis
328.83°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.3 LD
0.0214 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.813

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
23
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
1 September 2022
Last observed
2 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.89

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 103 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 RK at 2030-03-16 01:20 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-03-16 01:20 UTC close approach of 2022 RK. Catalogue miss distance 126.4 LD · 4.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-03-13 to 2030-03-19, 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 126.4 LD · 4.86 × 10⁷ km 2030-03-16 01:20 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-03-16 01:20 UTC close approach of 2022 RK. Catalogue miss distance 126.4 LD · 4.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-03-13 to 2030-03-19, 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
2026-11-01 01:03:00 Venus 0.1241 AU 48.3 LD 11.8 km/s
2030-03-16 01:20:00 Earth 0.3247 AU 126.4 LD 11.8 km/s
2030-09-07 18:57:00 Earth 0.1008 AU 39.2 LD 10.4 km/s
2032-08-03 14:18:00 Venus 0.0641 AU 25.0 LD 9.4 km/s
2034-03-04 04:01:00 Earth 0.3402 AU 132.4 LD 12.7 km/s
2034-09-06 10:09:00 Earth 0.1877 AU 73.0 LD 12.9 km/s
2038-02-19 06:39:00 Earth 0.3541 AU 137.8 LD 13.5 km/s
2038-09-03 13:06:00 Earth 0.2868 AU 111.6 LD 15.9 km/s
2040-05-13 08:47:00 Venus 0.1274 AU 49.6 LD 8.1 km/s
2042-02-06 14:50:00 Earth 0.3642 AU 141.7 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources