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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

Apophis

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99942 Apophis (2004 MN4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.794 AU
True anomaly
308.84°
Distance from Earth
1.46 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Apophis — 0.794 AU from the Sun Apophis
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Apophis is 1.46 AU from Earth today (12.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 52m 13s
Declination
-18° 23′ 35″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.01° — 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
0.922 AU
Eccentricity
0.1911
Inclination
3.34°
Orbital period
323.6 days
Perihelion
0.746 AU
Aphelion
1.099 AU
Longitude of ascending node
203.89°
Argument of periapsis
126.68°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.0 LD
0.0001 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.466

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,370
Data arc
18.07 years
First observed
15 March 2004
Last observed
9 April 2022
Residual RMS
0.26 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
25 June 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.17 km
Rotation period
30.56 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.35
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.09
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Tucker, R. A., Tholen, D. J., Bernardi, F.
Discovery date
19 June 2004
Discovery site
Kitt Peak

Also known as Apep, the Destroyer, Apophis is the Egyptian god of evil and destruction who dwelled in eternal darkness. As a result of its passage within 40 000 km of the earth on 2029 Apr. 13, this minor planet will move from the Aten to the Apollo class.

Also known as 99942 · 2004 MN4

Aten Near-Earth Object Named Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 98 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Apophis at 2027-12-29 14:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-29 14:23 UTC close approach of Apophis. Catalogue miss distance 114.3 LD · 4.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-26 to 2028-01-01, 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 114.3 LD · 4.39 × 10⁷ km 2027-12-29 14:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-29 14:23 UTC close approach of Apophis. Catalogue miss distance 114.3 LD · 4.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-26 to 2028-01-01, 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
2027-12-29 14:23:00 Earth 0.2936 AU 114.3 LD 14.7 km/s
2028-09-12 04:11:00 Earth 0.2566 AU 99.8 LD 7.9 km/s
2029-04-13 21:46:00 Earth 0.0003 AU 0.1 LD 7.4 km/s
2029-04-14 14:32:00 Moon 0.0006 AU 0.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2029-11-26 21:38:00 Earth 0.3 AU 116.7 LD 6.3 km/s
2036-03-27 08:31:00 Earth 0.3097 AU 120.5 LD 15 km/s
2036-12-31 15:53:00 Earth 0.33 AU 128.4 LD 6.8 km/s
2037-09-24 07:44:00 Earth 0.2231 AU 86.8 LD 12.4 km/s
2044-02-06 14:38:00 Earth 0.2797 AU 108.9 LD 5.8 km/s
2044-08-24 07:17:00 Earth 0.0803 AU 31.2 LD 4 km/s

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

Sources