Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 WU4

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2022 WU4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.157 AU
True anomaly
173.17°
Distance from Earth
0.495 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 2022 WU4 — 1.157 AU from the Sun 2022 WU4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 WU4 is 0.495 AU from Earth today (4.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 44m 04s
Declination
+32° 13′ 31″
Constellation
Cygnus
Distance from Earth
0.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
96.02° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.877 AU
Eccentricity
0.3239
Inclination
25.23°
Orbital period
300 days
Perihelion
0.593 AU
Aphelion
1.161 AU
Longitude of ascending node
241.42°
Argument of periapsis
314.14°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.3 LD
0.0212 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.635

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
64
Data arc
5 days
First observed
23 November 2022
Last observed
28 November 2022
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 November 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.18

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 63 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 WU4 at 2027-03-28 09:11 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-28 09:11 UTC close approach of 2022 WU4. Catalogue miss distance 190.0 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-25 to 2027-03-31, 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 190.0 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-28 09:11 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-28 09:11 UTC close approach of 2022 WU4. Catalogue miss distance 190.0 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-25 to 2027-03-31, 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
2027-03-28 09:11:00 Earth 0.4883 AU 190.0 LD 18.2 km/s
2027-11-15 12:12:00 Earth 0.394 AU 153.3 LD 24.5 km/s
2031-06-04 19:05:00 Earth 0.3501 AU 136.3 LD 18.7 km/s
2031-11-20 14:26:00 Earth 0.2143 AU 83.4 LD 13.1 km/s
2035-08-12 12:05:00 Earth 0.4886 AU 190.1 LD 20 km/s
2036-04-20 06:27:00 Earth 0.4434 AU 172.6 LD 19.8 km/s
2036-11-21 14:20:00 Earth 0.1911 AU 74.4 LD 19 km/s
2040-06-25 16:45:00 Earth 0.3455 AU 134.5 LD 17.8 km/s
2040-11-03 06:09:00 Earth 0.3628 AU 141.2 LD 13.2 km/s
2041-02-23 01:30:00 Earth 0.4979 AU 193.8 LD 12.2 km/s

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

Sources