2017 HW4 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.62 AU to 1.33 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 353.3 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 March 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.306 AU
- True anomaly
- 195.4°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.156 AU
- As of
- 24 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 21m 44s
- Declination
- -11° 17′ 13″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 2.15 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 23.62° — 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.
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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
- 0.978 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3624
- Inclination
- 18.59°
- Orbital period
- 353.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.624 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.332 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 218.31°
- Argument of periapsis
- 116.8°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
- 0.0054 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.086
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 68
- Data arc
- 8.28 years
- First observed
- 12 January 2010
- Last observed
- 23 April 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.44 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 1 March 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 22.03
Discovery & classification
Also known as 2010 AG111
Close approaches 162 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-12-19 23:35 UTC close approach of 2017 HW4. Catalogue miss distance 132.7 LD · 5.1 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-12-16 to 2038-12-22, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2038-12-19 23:35:00 | Earth | 0.3411 AU | 132.7 LD | 21.8 km/s |
| 2039-12-07 01:29:00 | Earth | 0.2103 AU | 81.8 LD | 16.8 km/s |
| 2040-11-17 07:19:00 | Earth | 0.2118 AU | 82.4 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2041-10-22 08:06:00 | Earth | 0.3084 AU | 120.0 LD | 14.3 km/s |
| 2042-09-26 02:01:00 | Earth | 0.3946 AU | 153.6 LD | 15.6 km/s |
| 2043-02-19 04:50:00 | Earth | 0.485 AU | 188.7 LD | 10 km/s |
| 2043-08-31 15:56:00 | Earth | 0.4472 AU | 174.0 LD | 15.7 km/s |
| 2044-03-16 14:04:00 | Earth | 0.4473 AU | 174.1 LD | 10.7 km/s |
| 2044-08-03 20:50:00 | Earth | 0.4572 AU | 177.9 LD | 13.9 km/s |
| 2045-04-10 17:20:00 | Earth | 0.348 AU | 135.4 LD | 10.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB