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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 BU4

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(2022 BU4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.901 AU
True anomaly
134.62°
Distance from Earth
1.33 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 2022 BU4 — 0.901 AU from the Sun 2022 BU4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 BU4 is 1.33 AU from Earth today (11.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 49m 18s
Declination
+07° 08′ 24″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.33 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.73° — 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
0.774 AU
Eccentricity
0.3605
Inclination
1.43°
Orbital period
248.6 days
Perihelion
0.495 AU
Aphelion
1.053 AU
Longitude of ascending node
132.57°
Argument of periapsis
204.98°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.6 LD
0.0015 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.445

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
82
Data arc
3 days
First observed
30 January 2022
Last observed
2 February 2022
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 October 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 97 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 BU4 at 2032-10-08 17:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-10-08 17:04 UTC close approach of 2022 BU4. Catalogue miss distance 184.1 LD · 7.08 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-10-05 to 2032-10-11, 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 184.1 LD · 7.08 × 10⁷ km 2032-10-08 17:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-10-08 17:04 UTC close approach of 2022 BU4. Catalogue miss distance 184.1 LD · 7.08 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-10-05 to 2032-10-11, 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
2027-03-03 02:51:00 Venus 0.0707 AU 27.5 LD 9.9 km/s
2028-10-01 07:54:00 Venus 0.1263 AU 49.1 LD 19.3 km/s
2032-10-08 17:04:00 Earth 0.473 AU 184.1 LD 16.6 km/s
2033-03-20 17:31:00 Earth 0.3531 AU 137.4 LD 20 km/s
2033-04-20 15:30:00 Venus 0.1095 AU 42.6 LD 18.5 km/s
2034-11-08 02:29:00 Earth 0.3995 AU 155.5 LD 11 km/s
2034-11-19 09:49:00 Venus 0.0595 AU 23.2 LD 10.5 km/s
2035-03-27 19:25:00 Earth 0.1145 AU 44.6 LD 11.9 km/s
2037-03-03 14:13:00 Earth 0.061 AU 23.7 LD 6.9 km/s
2039-01-26 06:36:00 Earth 0.0631 AU 24.5 LD 10.2 km/s

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

Sources