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Asteroid Near-Earth

361071

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361071 (2006 AO4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.662 AU
True anomaly
86.19°
Distance from Earth
1.78 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 361071 — 1.662 AU from the Sun 361071
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 361071 is 1.78 AU from Earth today (14.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 21m 27s
Declination
+31° 32′ 00″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
1.78 AU
Elongation from the Sun
67.14° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
2.626 AU
Eccentricity
0.5852
Inclination
24.36°
Orbital period
4.26 years
Perihelion
1.089 AU
Aphelion
4.163 AU
Longitude of ascending node
318.39°
Argument of periapsis
50.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 76.3 LD
0.196 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.031

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
852
Data arc
33.68 years
First observed
29 January 1993
Last observed
5 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 October 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
4.09 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.56

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Mt. Lemmon Survey
Discovery date
8 January 2006
Discovery site
Mount Lemmon

Also known as 2006 AO4

Amor Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 6 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 361071 at 2030-08-24 12:44 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-08-24 12:44 UTC close approach of 361071. Catalogue miss distance 75.4 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-08-21 to 2030-08-27, 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 75.4 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km 2030-08-24 12:44 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-08-24 12:44 UTC close approach of 361071. Catalogue miss distance 75.4 LD · 2.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-08-21 to 2030-08-27, 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
2027-12-29 04:39:00 Juptr 1.9002 AU 739.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2030-08-24 12:44:00 Earth 0.1939 AU 75.4 LD 15.1 km/s
2087-09-02 19:31:00 Juptr 1.9848 AU 772.4 LD 6.6 km/s
2128-08-24 07:01:00 Earth 0.1934 AU 75.3 LD 14.9 km/s
2194-03-11 10:46:00 Juptr 1.9324 AU 752.0 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources