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Asteroid Near-Earth

203471

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203471 (2002 AU4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.882 AU
True anomaly
243.63°
Distance from Earth
1.835 AU
As of
19 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 203471 — 0.882 AU from the Sun 203471
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 203471 is 1.835 AU from Earth today (15.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 21m 47s
Declination
+00° 10′ 17″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
11.57° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.855 AU
Eccentricity
0.3736
Inclination
17.19°
Orbital period
289 days
Perihelion
0.536 AU
Aphelion
1.175 AU
Longitude of ascending node
99.41°
Argument of periapsis
205.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 34.4 LD
0.0885 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.802

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
472
Data arc
31.15 years
First observed
7 January 1994
Last observed
2 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 December 2025

Physical properties

Rotation period
13.26 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.45

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
8 January 2002
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2002 AU4

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 50 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 203471 at 2027-12-17 17:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-17 17:40 UTC close approach of 203471. Catalogue miss distance 58.4 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-14 to 2027-12-20, 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 58.4 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km 2027-12-17 17:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-17 17:40 UTC close approach of 203471. Catalogue miss distance 58.4 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-14 to 2027-12-20, 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
2027-12-17 17:40:00 Earth 0.15 AU 58.4 LD 15.7 km/s
2031-12-26 13:33:00 Earth 0.1321 AU 51.4 LD 11.4 km/s
2038-10-24 15:28:00 Mercury 0.0951 AU 37.0 LD 12.9 km/s
2038-10-24 15:28:00 Merc 0.0951 AU 37.0 LD 12.9 km/s
2044-05-08 13:35:00 Mercury 0.0952 AU 37.1 LD 12.6 km/s
2044-05-08 13:35:00 Merc 0.0952 AU 37.1 LD 12.6 km/s
2046-12-17 23:58:00 Earth 0.0947 AU 36.8 LD 13.5 km/s
2051-01-04 12:48:00 Earth 0.1814 AU 70.6 LD 11.2 km/s
2061-12-18 02:34:00 Earth 0.1956 AU 76.1 LD 17.3 km/s
2065-12-23 03:11:00 Earth 0.1109 AU 43.2 LD 11.7 km/s

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

Sources