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Asteroid Near-Earth

2004 QA22

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(2004 QA22)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.941 AU
True anomaly
92.05°
Distance from Earth
1.42 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2004 QA22 — 0.941 AU from the Sun 2004 QA22
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2004 QA22 is 1.42 AU from Earth today (11.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 38m 43s
Declination
-21° 47′ 36″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.42 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.4° — 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
0.951 AU
Eccentricity
0.1228
Inclination
0.58°
Orbital period
338.8 days
Perihelion
0.834 AU
Aphelion
1.068 AU
Longitude of ascending node
174.7°
Argument of periapsis
28.26°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.7 LD
0.0042 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.32

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
45
Data arc
10 days
First observed
25 August 2004
Last observed
4 September 2004
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 37 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2004 QA22 at 2030-06-06 05:31 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-06-06 05:31 UTC close approach of 2004 QA22. Catalogue miss distance 57.5 LD · 2.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-06-03 to 2030-06-09, 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 57.5 LD · 2.21 × 10⁷ km 2030-06-06 05:31 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-06-06 05:31 UTC close approach of 2004 QA22. Catalogue miss distance 57.5 LD · 2.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-06-03 to 2030-06-09, 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
2030-06-06 05:31:00 Earth 0.1478 AU 57.5 LD 3.9 km/s
2030-11-20 16:13:00 Earth 0.0606 AU 23.6 LD 2.7 km/s
2043-05-29 14:22:00 Earth 0.1531 AU 59.6 LD 4.1 km/s
2043-12-02 05:53:00 Earth 0.0501 AU 19.5 LD 2.6 km/s
2055-06-11 06:50:00 Venus 0.1247 AU 48.5 LD 2.2 km/s
2056-06-23 03:07:00 Earth 0.1258 AU 49.0 LD 3 km/s
2056-10-21 12:34:00 Earth 0.0722 AU 28.1 LD 2.9 km/s
2057-02-15 06:45:00 Earth 0.1224 AU 47.6 LD 3.1 km/s
2057-04-01 00:17:00 Venus 0.1195 AU 46.5 LD 1.7 km/s
2059-01-18 14:45:00 Venus 0.1404 AU 54.6 LD 1.3 km/s

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

Sources