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Asteroid Near-Earth

Eric

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4954 Eric (1990 SQ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.664 AU
True anomaly
207°
Distance from Earth
3.271 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 Eric — 2.664 AU from the Sun Eric
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Eric is 3.271 AU from Earth today (27.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 46m 53s
Declination
-34° 07′ 47″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
3.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.82° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
2.002 AU
Eccentricity
0.4492
Inclination
17.43°
Orbital period
2.83 years
Perihelion
1.102 AU
Aphelion
2.901 AU
Longitude of ascending node
358.39°
Argument of periapsis
52.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 75.7 LD
0.1944 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.657

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,745
Data arc
51.3 years
First observed
7 June 1975
Last observed
25 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
5.40 km
Rotation period
12.06 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.176
Absolute magnitude (H)
12.54
Spectral type (SMASS)
S

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Roman, B.
Discovery date
23 September 1990
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 4954 · 1990 SQ

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2169-03-24 15:46:00 Mars 0.063 AU 24.5 LD 12.2 km/s

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

Sources