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Asteroid Near-Earth

Brucemurray

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4957 Brucemurray (1990 XJ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.886 AU
True anomaly
163.31°
Distance from Earth
2.599 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 Brucemurray — 1.886 AU from the Sun Brucemurray
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Brucemurray is 2.599 AU from Earth today (21.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 48m 43s
Declination
-18° 51′ 08″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
2.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.24° — 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
1.566 AU
Eccentricity
0.2188
Inclination
35.01°
Orbital period
715.5 days
Perihelion
1.223 AU
Aphelion
1.908 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.88°
Argument of periapsis
97.48°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 165.3 LD
0.4248 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
4.2

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,654
Data arc
50.02 years
First observed
11 March 1976
Last observed
20 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.75 km
Rotation period
2.89 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.132
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.05
Spectral type (SMASS)
S

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Helin, E. F.
Discovery date
15 December 1990
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 4957 · 1990 XJ

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-05-18 12:47:00 Mars 0.0685 AU 26.6 LD 15.7 km/s
2132-01-08 07:13:00 Mars 0.0845 AU 32.9 LD 15.8 km/s
2179-01-11 21:18:00 Mars 0.0943 AU 36.7 LD 15.7 km/s

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

Sources