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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 DC4

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(2018 DC4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.037 AU
True anomaly
169.34°
Distance from Earth
1.311 AU
As of
21 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 2018 DC4 — 1.037 AU from the Sun 2018 DC4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 DC4 is 1.311 AU from Earth today (10.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 38m 58s
Declination
+09° 57′ 42″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.26° — 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.

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
0.919 AU
Eccentricity
0.1308
Inclination
2.44°
Orbital period
321.9 days
Perihelion
0.799 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
332.2°
Argument of periapsis
327.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.8 LD
0.0097 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.493

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
19
Data arc
4 days
First observed
26 February 2018
Last observed
2 March 2018
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 49 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 DC4 at 2031-12-07 05:34 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-07 05:34 UTC close approach of 2018 DC4. Catalogue miss distance 135.1 LD · 5.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-04 to 2031-12-10, 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 135.1 LD · 5.19 × 10⁷ km 2031-12-07 05:34 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-07 05:34 UTC close approach of 2018 DC4. Catalogue miss distance 135.1 LD · 5.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-04 to 2031-12-10, 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
2027-03-31 05:05:00 Venus 0.0848 AU 33.0 LD 2.9 km/s
2031-12-07 05:34:00 Earth 0.3472 AU 135.1 LD 14.5 km/s
2032-08-06 09:31:00 Earth 0.2131 AU 82.9 LD 6.1 km/s
2033-03-07 13:57:00 Earth 0.1702 AU 66.2 LD 9.1 km/s
2046-12-02 22:40:00 Earth 0.2484 AU 96.7 LD 11.4 km/s
2047-07-17 12:18:00 Earth 0.2185 AU 85.0 LD 6.2 km/s
2048-03-03 13:22:00 Earth 0.2722 AU 105.9 LD 12.3 km/s
2054-09-21 11:44:00 Earth 0.167 AU 65.0 LD 4.3 km/s
2055-02-28 13:15:00 Earth 0.0215 AU 8.4 LD 3.4 km/s
2061-11-30 19:34:00 Earth 0.2408 AU 93.7 LD 11.2 km/s

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

Sources