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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 RW

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(2022 RW)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.895 AU
True anomaly
243.16°
Distance from Earth
0.543 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 RW — 0.895 AU from the Sun 2022 RW
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 RW is 0.543 AU from Earth today (4.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 19m 20s
Declination
-21° 58′ 54″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
0.54 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.15° — 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
0.849 AU
Eccentricity
0.1915
Inclination
21.97°
Orbital period
285.6 days
Perihelion
0.686 AU
Aphelion
1.011 AU
Longitude of ascending node
163.13°
Argument of periapsis
7.54°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.3 LD
0.0007 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.865

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
106
Data arc
15 days
First observed
31 August 2022
Last observed
15 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.42

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 96 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 RW at 2029-09-05 11:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-05 11:42 UTC close approach of 2022 RW. Catalogue miss distance 86.2 LD · 3.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-02 to 2029-09-08, 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 86.2 LD · 3.31 × 10⁷ km 2029-09-05 11:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-05 11:42 UTC close approach of 2022 RW. Catalogue miss distance 86.2 LD · 3.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-02 to 2029-09-08, 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
2029-09-05 11:42:00 Earth 0.2215 AU 86.2 LD 14 km/s
2030-01-28 10:25:00 Earth 0.3278 AU 127.6 LD 14.7 km/s
2030-02-20 23:16:00 Venus 0.0749 AU 29.2 LD 15.1 km/s
2033-05-03 01:41:00 Earth 0.3981 AU 154.9 LD 12.3 km/s
2033-09-09 10:31:00 Earth 0.2738 AU 106.5 LD 13.6 km/s
2036-09-08 19:53:00 Earth 0.4507 AU 175.4 LD 19.6 km/s
2037-02-25 22:09:00 Earth 0.3024 AU 117.7 LD 15.9 km/s
2038-09-28 20:22:00 Venus 0.0362 AU 14.1 LD 14.8 km/s
2040-09-06 02:18:00 Earth 0.0459 AU 17.8 LD 11.1 km/s
2044-03-24 08:43:00 Earth 0.3307 AU 128.7 LD 15.7 km/s

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

Sources