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Asteroid Near-Earth

2004 YC

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(2004 YC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.994 AU
True anomaly
132.77°
Distance from Earth
0.95 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2004 YC — 0.994 AU from the Sun 2004 YC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2004 YC is 0.95 AU from Earth today (7.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 51m 22s
Declination
+12° 51′ 52″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
61.69° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.868 AU
Eccentricity
0.3137
Inclination
6.08°
Orbital period
295.2 days
Perihelion
0.596 AU
Aphelion
1.14 AU
Longitude of ascending node
263.14°
Argument of periapsis
47.49°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.1 LD
0.0028 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.768

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
35
Data arc
4 days
First observed
15 December 2004
Last observed
19 December 2004
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 70 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2004 YC at 2027-03-09 15:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-09 15:17 UTC close approach of 2004 YC. Catalogue miss distance 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-06 to 2027-03-12, 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 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-09 15:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-09 15:17 UTC close approach of 2004 YC. Catalogue miss distance 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-06 to 2027-03-12, 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
2027-03-09 15:17:00 Earth 0.3837 AU 149.3 LD 20.7 km/s
2029-12-26 17:23:00 Earth 0.4471 AU 174.0 LD 23.4 km/s
2030-08-19 07:13:00 Earth 0.4179 AU 162.6 LD 14.6 km/s
2031-03-18 20:25:00 Earth 0.1588 AU 61.8 LD 12.8 km/s
2034-09-19 20:55:00 Earth 0.3736 AU 145.4 LD 11.4 km/s
2039-06-01 05:37:00 Earth 0.3401 AU 132.4 LD 10.4 km/s
2042-12-13 21:10:00 Earth 0.0448 AU 17.4 LD 10.7 km/s
2043-07-04 10:09:00 Earth 0.4028 AU 156.7 LD 14 km/s
2045-04-09 18:58:00 Venus 0.0942 AU 36.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2046-12-22 00:43:00 Earth 0.3232 AU 125.8 LD 19.4 km/s

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

Sources