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Asteroid Near-Earth

2001 XU4

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(2001 XU4)

2001 XU4 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.85 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 376 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.178 AU
True anomaly
164.49°
Distance from Earth
1.561 AU
As of
3 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2001 XU4 — 1.178 AU from the Sun 2001 XU4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2001 XU4 is 1.561 AU from Earth today (13.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 22m 37s
Declination
-04° 25′ 32″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.56 AU
Elongation from the Sun
49.07° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
1.02 AU
Eccentricity
0.1636
Inclination
12.68°
Orbital period
376 days
Perihelion
0.853 AU
Aphelion
1.186 AU
Longitude of ascending node
259.31°
Argument of periapsis
69.79°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 20.2 LD
0.0518 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.956

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
31
Data arc
5 days
First observed
9 December 2001
Last observed
14 December 2001
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.46 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.8

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Sources