420738 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.88 AU to 1.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 359.6 days. Discovered 4 October 2012 by CSS. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 March 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.037 AU
- True anomaly
- 239.37°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.889 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 10h 02m 48s
- Declination
- -08° 22′ 19″
- Constellation
- Sextans
- Distance from Earth
- 0.89 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 66.59° — well clear of the Sun
Visible from both hemispheres.
From your location
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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
- 0.99 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1134
- Inclination
- 16.46°
- Orbital period
- 359.6 days
- Perihelion
- 0.877 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.102 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 190.75°
- Argument of periapsis
- 20.65°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 34.8 LD
- 0.0895 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.089
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 535
- Data arc
- 6.27 years
- First observed
- 15 September 2010
- Last observed
- 22 December 2016
- Residual RMS
- 0.42 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 1 March 2023
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 3.57 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 20.84
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- CSS
- Discovery date
- 4 October 2012
- Discovery site
- Catalina
Also known as 2012 TS
Close approaches 87 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2074-09-16 02:44 UTC close approach of 420738. Catalogue miss distance 171.9 LD · 6.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2074-09-13 to 2074-09-19, 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. 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2074-09-16 02:44:00 | Earth | 0.4417 AU | 171.9 LD | 16.9 km/s |
| 2075-09-16 02:30:00 | Earth | 0.3608 AU | 140.4 LD | 14.7 km/s |
| 2076-09-16 03:47:00 | Earth | 0.2828 AU | 110.1 LD | 12.7 km/s |
| 2077-09-18 09:29:00 | Earth | 0.2101 AU | 81.8 LD | 11.1 km/s |
| 2078-09-22 01:43:00 | Earth | 0.1463 AU | 56.9 LD | 9.8 km/s |
| 2079-05-29 19:58:00 | Earth | 0.2862 AU | 111.4 LD | 8.9 km/s |
| 2079-09-26 19:57:00 | Earth | 0.1011 AU | 39.3 LD | 9 km/s |
| 2080-05-07 21:56:00 | Earth | 0.2375 AU | 92.4 LD | 9.8 km/s |
| 2080-10-01 14:57:00 | Earth | 0.0937 AU | 36.5 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2081-04-23 06:42:00 | Earth | 0.1862 AU | 72.5 LD | 9.8 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB