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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

686964

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686964 (2011 GM44)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.974 AU
True anomaly
217.17°
Distance from Earth
1.645 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 686964 — 0.974 AU from the Sun 686964
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 686964 is 1.645 AU from Earth today (13.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 12m 22s
Declination
-40° 40′ 16″
Constellation
Centaurus
Distance from Earth
1.64 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.94° — 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
0.782 AU
Eccentricity
0.5191
Inclination
49.33°
Orbital period
252.4 days
Perihelion
0.376 AU
Aphelion
1.187 AU
Longitude of ascending node
10.82°
Argument of periapsis
37.53°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.1 LD
0.0234 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.088

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
143
Data arc
17.95 years
First observed
28 May 2006
Last observed
8 May 2024
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.68

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Siding Spring Survey
Discovery date
5 April 2011
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 2011 GM44

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 132 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 686964 at 2027-04-01 21:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-01 21:46 UTC close approach of 686964. Catalogue miss distance 190.1 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-29 to 2027-04-04, 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 190.1 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-01 21:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-01 21:46 UTC close approach of 686964. Catalogue miss distance 190.1 LD · 7.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-29 to 2027-04-04, 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
2027-04-01 21:46:00 Earth 0.4886 AU 190.1 LD 23.1 km/s
2029-03-29 07:30:00 Earth 0.1573 AU 61.2 LD 23.6 km/s
2031-04-09 01:17:00 Earth 0.2242 AU 87.3 LD 30.3 km/s
2038-03-29 00:38:00 Earth 0.2363 AU 92.0 LD 23 km/s
2040-01-27 19:41:00 Mercury 0.0678 AU 26.4 LD 40 km/s
2040-01-27 19:41:00 Merc 0.0678 AU 26.4 LD 40 km/s
2040-04-05 07:00:00 Earth 0.1404 AU 54.6 LD 28.4 km/s
2047-03-29 11:36:00 Earth 0.3103 AU 120.8 LD 22.7 km/s
2049-04-03 00:11:00 Earth 0.0623 AU 24.2 LD 26.7 km/s
2051-04-18 05:37:00 Earth 0.4411 AU 171.7 LD 36.1 km/s

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

Sources