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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 VU4

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(2018 VU4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.892 AU
True anomaly
223.22°
Distance from Earth
0.755 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 VU4 — 0.892 AU from the Sun 2018 VU4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 VU4 is 0.755 AU from Earth today (6.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 04m 46s
Declination
+23° 33′ 32″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
59.27° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.752 AU
Eccentricity
0.4599
Inclination
22.77°
Orbital period
238.4 days
Perihelion
0.406 AU
Aphelion
1.098 AU
Longitude of ascending node
46.54°
Argument of periapsis
161.31°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.9 LD
0.0486 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.538

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
35
Data arc
4 days
First observed
6 November 2018
Last observed
10 November 2018
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 40 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 VU4 at 2029-10-06 20:02 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-06 20:02 UTC close approach of 2018 VU4. Catalogue miss distance 147.4 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-03 to 2029-10-09, 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 147.4 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-06 20:02 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-06 20:02 UTC close approach of 2018 VU4. Catalogue miss distance 147.4 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-03 to 2029-10-09, 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
2026-12-25 10:23:00 Merc 0.0813 AU 31.7 LD 23.8 km/s
2026-12-25 10:23:00 Mercury 0.0813 AU 31.7 LD 23.8 km/s
2029-10-06 20:02:00 Earth 0.3787 AU 147.4 LD 19.5 km/s
2031-10-14 19:41:00 Earth 0.2505 AU 97.5 LD 14.5 km/s
2033-11-01 16:37:00 Earth 0.1431 AU 55.7 LD 13.3 km/s
2035-11-14 17:44:00 Earth 0.058 AU 22.6 LD 15 km/s
2037-11-13 01:59:00 Earth 0.2523 AU 98.2 LD 20.8 km/s
2039-11-05 21:52:00 Earth 0.4785 AU 186.2 LD 28.1 km/s
2044-10-07 07:42:00 Earth 0.4229 AU 164.6 LD 21.4 km/s
2046-10-11 00:21:00 Earth 0.2782 AU 108.3 LD 15.3 km/s

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

Sources