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Asteroid Near-Earth

2024 QU

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(2024 QU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.055 AU
True anomaly
177.6°
Distance from Earth
1.083 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2024 QU — 1.055 AU from the Sun 2024 QU
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2024 QU is 1.083 AU from Earth today (9.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 37m 04s
Declination
-24° 32′ 50″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.71° — 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
0.811 AU
Eccentricity
0.3012
Inclination
6.66°
Orbital period
266.8 days
Perihelion
0.567 AU
Aphelion
1.055 AU
Longitude of ascending node
330.99°
Argument of periapsis
171.04°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 11.7 LD
0.0301 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.163

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
115
Data arc
24 days
First observed
14 August 2024
Last observed
7 September 2024
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 September 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.87

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 176 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2024 QU at 2027-03-16 21:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-16 21:14 UTC close approach of 2024 QU. Catalogue miss distance 157.8 LD · 6.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-13 to 2027-03-19, 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 157.8 LD · 6.07 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-16 21:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-16 21:14 UTC close approach of 2024 QU. Catalogue miss distance 157.8 LD · 6.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-13 to 2027-03-19, 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
2027-03-16 21:14:00 Earth 0.4054 AU 157.8 LD 14 km/s
2027-09-06 21:51:00 Earth 0.4201 AU 163.5 LD 19.6 km/s
2029-07-28 04:40:00 Earth 0.4797 AU 186.7 LD 21.3 km/s
2030-01-23 15:57:00 Earth 0.4121 AU 160.4 LD 14.8 km/s
2032-07-21 20:33:00 Earth 0.0767 AU 29.8 LD 7.5 km/s
2032-11-16 16:54:00 Earth 0.2963 AU 115.3 LD 5.1 km/s
2033-09-01 11:34:00 Venus 0.1087 AU 42.3 LD 9.2 km/s
2035-04-15 22:04:00 Earth 0.3607 AU 140.4 LD 10.2 km/s
2035-09-14 12:18:00 Earth 0.1962 AU 76.4 LD 12.3 km/s
2038-02-19 11:45:00 Earth 0.4197 AU 163.3 LD 15.5 km/s

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

Sources