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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

468468

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468468 (2004 KH17)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.763 AU
True anomaly
233.23°
Distance from Earth
1.269 AU
As of
15 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 468468 — 0.763 AU from the Sun 468468
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 468468 is 1.269 AU from Earth today (10.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 41m 02s
Declination
-27° 13′ 46″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.75° — 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
0.712 AU
Eccentricity
0.4981
Inclination
22.13°
Orbital period
219.5 days
Perihelion
0.357 AU
Aphelion
1.067 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.11°
Argument of periapsis
340.73°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
0.0034 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.901

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
248
Data arc
21.01 years
First observed
29 May 2004
Last observed
1 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 June 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.10 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.072
Absolute magnitude (H)
22.01

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
29 May 2004
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2004 KH17

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 134 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 468468 at 2028-05-24 20:05 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-24 20:05 UTC close approach of 468468. Catalogue miss distance 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-21 to 2028-05-27, 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 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-24 20:05 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-24 20:05 UTC close approach of 468468. Catalogue miss distance 68.5 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-21 to 2028-05-27, 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
2028-05-24 20:05:00 Earth 0.1759 AU 68.5 LD 13 km/s
2031-05-23 06:14:00 Earth 0.1914 AU 74.5 LD 13.2 km/s
2032-10-15 16:51:00 Venus 0.1376 AU 53.6 LD 18.7 km/s
2059-03-30 11:53:00 Venus 0.1458 AU 56.7 LD 17.6 km/s
2059-11-10 06:54:00 Venus 0.1424 AU 55.4 LD 21 km/s
2061-10-12 10:17:00 Merc 0.0922 AU 35.9 LD 21.3 km/s
2061-10-12 10:17:00 Mercury 0.0922 AU 35.9 LD 21.3 km/s
2062-12-26 08:16:00 Mercury 0.0817 AU 31.8 LD 20.3 km/s
2062-12-26 08:16:00 Merc 0.0817 AU 31.8 LD 20.3 km/s
2064-03-10 06:29:00 Mercury 0.0728 AU 28.3 LD 19.5 km/s

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

Sources