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Asteroid Near-Earth

678989

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678989 (2018 GY4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.82 AU
True anomaly
128.81°
Distance from Earth
1.476 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 678989 — 0.82 AU from the Sun 678989
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 678989 is 1.476 AU from Earth today (12.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 39m 16s
Declination
-05° 55′ 23″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.99° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.918 AU
Eccentricity
0.7101
Inclination
17.24°
Orbital period
321.3 days
Perihelion
0.266 AU
Aphelion
1.57 AU
Longitude of ascending node
266.98°
Argument of periapsis
102.77°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 68.3 LD
0.1755 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.232

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
95
Data arc
15.11 years
First observed
17 February 2010
Last observed
30 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 April 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.06

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Pan-STARRS 1
Discovery date
13 April 2018
Discovery site
Haleakala

Also known as 2018 GY4

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 126 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 678989 at 2035-05-15 21:20 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-05-15 21:20 UTC close approach of 678989. Catalogue miss distance 68.9 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-05-12 to 2035-05-18, 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 68.9 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km 2035-05-15 21:20 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-05-15 21:20 UTC close approach of 678989. Catalogue miss distance 68.9 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-05-12 to 2035-05-18, 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
2032-11-17 02:02:00 Merc 0.0588 AU 22.9 LD 43.3 km/s
2032-11-17 02:02:00 Mercury 0.0588 AU 22.9 LD 43.3 km/s
2035-05-15 21:20:00 Earth 0.1772 AU 68.9 LD 23.2 km/s
2035-07-09 19:11:00 Merc 0.0802 AU 31.2 LD 28.5 km/s
2035-07-09 19:11:00 Mercury 0.0802 AU 31.2 LD 28.5 km/s
2043-05-17 00:58:00 Merc 0.0653 AU 25.4 LD 32.1 km/s
2043-05-17 00:58:00 Mercury 0.0653 AU 25.4 LD 32.1 km/s
2046-11-11 07:54:00 Venus 0.1286 AU 50.0 LD 35.3 km/s
2053-01-06 18:14:00 Venus 0.0997 AU 38.8 LD 33.6 km/s
2053-02-09 19:41:00 Mercury 0.0718 AU 27.9 LD 45.2 km/s

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

Sources