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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

4953

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4953 (1990 MU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.178 AU
True anomaly
208.57°
Distance from Earth
1.36 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 4953 — 2.178 AU from the Sun 4953
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 4953 is 1.36 AU from Earth today (11.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 48m 43s
Declination
-38° 10′ 42″
Constellation
Sculptor
Distance from Earth
1.36 AU
Elongation from the Sun
134.13° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
1.621 AU
Eccentricity
0.6576
Inclination
24.38°
Orbital period
754.1 days
Perihelion
0.555 AU
Aphelion
2.688 AU
Longitude of ascending node
77.52°
Argument of periapsis
77.94°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 9.8 LD
0.0251 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.975

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,444
Data arc
52.22 years
First observed
21 July 1974
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
14.22 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.88

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
McNaught, R. H.
Discovery date
23 June 1990
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 1990 MU

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 29 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 4953 at 2027-06-06 22:43 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-06 22:43 UTC close approach of 4953. Catalogue miss distance 12.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-03 to 2027-06-09, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 4 Jun 9 Jun 12.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁶ km 2027-06-06 22:43 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-06 22:43 UTC close approach of 4953. Catalogue miss distance 12.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-03 to 2027-06-09, 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 north 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
2027-06-06 22:43:00 Earth 0.0308 AU 12.0 LD 23.8 km/s
2041-09-03 21:13:00 Venus 0.0581 AU 22.6 LD 22 km/s
2049-11-24 11:49:00 Earth 0.1228 AU 47.8 LD 25.4 km/s
2058-06-05 10:17:00 Earth 0.0231 AU 9.0 LD 23.1 km/s
2070-08-07 14:13:00 Venus 0.1168 AU 45.5 LD 19.2 km/s
2080-11-19 01:01:00 Earth 0.1898 AU 73.9 LD 27.9 km/s
2089-05-30 18:05:00 Earth 0.1251 AU 48.7 LD 20.3 km/s
2099-07-08 10:11:00 Venus 0.1328 AU 51.7 LD 18.6 km/s
2113-12-06 18:43:00 Earth 0.1544 AU 60.1 LD 20.9 km/s
2122-06-13 23:30:00 Earth 0.1523 AU 59.3 LD 27.3 km/s

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

Sources