2006 AM4 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.34 AU to 1.62 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 355.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 8 December 2025.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.976 AU
- True anomaly
- 130.02°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.145 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
- 20h 48m 43s
- Declination
- -48° 02′ 49″
- Constellation
- Indus
- Distance from Earth
- 0.15 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 81.36° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.982 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.6492
- Inclination
- 4.16°
- Orbital period
- 355.6 days
- Perihelion
- 0.345 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.62 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 123.3°
- Argument of periapsis
- 139.69°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 4.3 LD
- 0.0111 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.957
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 191
- Data arc
- 19.92 years
- First observed
- 8 January 2006
- Last observed
- 8 December 2025
- Residual RMS
- 0.49 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 8 December 2025
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 0.08 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.88
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 189 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-26 20:48 UTC close approach of 2006 AM4. Catalogue miss distance 33.0 LD · 1.27 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-23 to 2027-10-29, 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 south 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 03:10:00 | Venus | 0.0125 AU | 4.9 LD | 25.1 km/s |
| 2026-10-31 11:31:00 | Earth | 0.1271 AU | 49.5 LD | 24.3 km/s |
| 2027-10-26 20:48:00 | Earth | 0.0849 AU | 33.0 LD | 19.8 km/s |
| 2028-08-12 08:35:00 | Mercury | 0.0186 AU | 7.3 LD | 33.8 km/s |
| 2028-08-12 08:35:00 | Merc | 0.0186 AU | 7.3 LD | 33.8 km/s |
| 2029-08-05 08:46:00 | Merc | 0.0769 AU | 29.9 LD | 25.3 km/s |
| 2029-08-05 08:46:00 | Mercury | 0.0769 AU | 29.9 LD | 25.3 km/s |
| 2032-07-25 08:49:00 | Mercury | 0.0719 AU | 28.0 LD | 26 km/s |
| 2032-07-25 08:49:00 | Merc | 0.0719 AU | 28.0 LD | 26 km/s |
| 2033-07-17 09:50:00 | Merc | 0.0583 AU | 22.7 LD | 36.3 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