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Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 DK4

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(2012 DK4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.734 AU
True anomaly
344.21°
Distance from Earth
1.196 AU
As of
20 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 2012 DK4 — 0.734 AU from the Sun 2012 DK4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 DK4 is 1.196 AU from Earth today (9.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 16m 36s
Declination
-19° 28′ 20″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.86° — 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
0.892 AU
Eccentricity
0.1817
Inclination
4.1°
Orbital period
307.6 days
Perihelion
0.73 AU
Aphelion
1.054 AU
Longitude of ascending node
168.15°
Argument of periapsis
148.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.0 LD
0.0127 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.647

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
63
Data arc
37 days
First observed
19 February 2012
Last observed
27 March 2012
Residual RMS
0.28 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 71 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 DK4 at 2032-12-19 15:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-12-19 15:56 UTC close approach of 2012 DK4. Catalogue miss distance 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-12-16 to 2032-12-22, 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. Sun 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km 2032-12-19 15:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-12-19 15:56 UTC close approach of 2012 DK4. Catalogue miss distance 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-12-16 to 2032-12-22, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-06-12 19:05:00 Venus 0.1452 AU 56.5 LD 10 km/s
2032-12-19 15:56:00 Earth 0.1499 AU 58.3 LD 9.1 km/s
2033-07-01 13:40:00 Earth 0.27 AU 105.1 LD 7.5 km/s
2037-11-03 16:21:00 Venus 0.1449 AU 56.4 LD 10.9 km/s
2038-01-01 15:00:00 Earth 0.4916 AU 191.3 LD 20.3 km/s
2038-08-28 10:47:00 Earth 0.2748 AU 107.0 LD 8.4 km/s
2039-03-19 15:22:00 Earth 0.2041 AU 79.4 LD 11.4 km/s
2048-12-22 20:54:00 Earth 0.2512 AU 97.8 LD 12.5 km/s
2050-03-10 13:57:00 Earth 0.4494 AU 174.9 LD 19.1 km/s
2055-03-21 10:37:00 Earth 0.1068 AU 41.6 LD 8.4 km/s

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

Sources