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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2001 XX4

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(2001 XX4)

2001 XX4 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.45 AU to 1.57 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 368.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.07 AU
True anomaly
230.96°
Distance from Earth
1.958 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2001 XX4 — 1.07 AU from the Sun 2001 XX4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2001 XX4 is 1.958 AU from Earth today (16.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 23m 48s
Declination
-08° 23′ 18″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.96° — 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
1.007 AU
Eccentricity
0.5569
Inclination
0.85°
Orbital period
368.9 days
Perihelion
0.446 AU
Aphelion
1.567 AU
Longitude of ascending node
127.09°
Argument of periapsis
186.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 4.4 LD
0.0113 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.9

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
102
Data arc
388 days
First observed
11 December 2001
Last observed
3 January 2003
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.1

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 250 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2001 XX4 at 2055-03-14 13:02 UTC Sun 172.5 LD · 6.63 × 10⁷ km 2055-03-14 13:02 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2055-03-14 13:02 UTC close approach of 2001 XX4. Catalogue miss distance 172.5 LD · 6.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2055-03-11 to 2055-03-17, 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
2026-12-28 07:57:00 Merc 0.0563 AU 21.9 LD 17.8 km/s
2026-12-28 07:57:00 Mercury 0.0563 AU 21.9 LD 17.8 km/s
2031-02-24 11:06:00 Venus 0.0126 AU 4.9 LD 20.6 km/s
2032-01-14 05:45:00 Mercury 0.0991 AU 38.6 LD 24.4 km/s
2032-01-14 05:45:00 Merc 0.0991 AU 38.6 LD 24.4 km/s
2040-01-27 16:13:00 Venus 0.1224 AU 47.6 LD 14.4 km/s
2045-04-21 14:26:00 Venus 0.0549 AU 21.4 LD 22.8 km/s
2055-03-14 13:02:00 Earth 0.4433 AU 172.5 LD 31.9 km/s
2056-03-16 21:10:00 Earth 0.3747 AU 145.8 LD 29.7 km/s
2057-03-20 03:41:00 Earth 0.3055 AU 118.9 LD 27.4 km/s

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

Sources