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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 SF4

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(2022 SF4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.873 AU
True anomaly
128.94°
Distance from Earth
0.795 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 2022 SF4 — 0.873 AU from the Sun 2022 SF4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 SF4 is 0.795 AU from Earth today (6.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 18m 10s
Declination
-28° 43′ 51″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.8 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.18° — 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
0.781 AU
Eccentricity
0.4292
Inclination
13.91°
Orbital period
252.2 days
Perihelion
0.446 AU
Aphelion
1.117 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.34°
Argument of periapsis
208.88°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.4 LD
0.0087 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.34

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
21
Data arc
2 days
First observed
19 September 2022
Last observed
21 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.96

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 93 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 SF4 at 2029-11-16 18:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-16 18:47 UTC close approach of 2022 SF4. Catalogue miss distance 86.9 LD · 3.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-13 to 2029-11-19, 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 86.9 LD · 3.34 × 10⁷ km 2029-11-16 18:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-16 18:47 UTC close approach of 2022 SF4. Catalogue miss distance 86.9 LD · 3.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-13 to 2029-11-19, 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
2029-11-16 18:47:00 Earth 0.2232 AU 86.9 LD 12.6 km/s
2031-09-25 18:00:00 Earth 0.1077 AU 41.9 LD 10.4 km/s
2032-01-27 19:45:00 Earth 0.4226 AU 164.5 LD 13.2 km/s
2033-09-20 07:37:00 Earth 0.2614 AU 101.7 LD 20.1 km/s
2035-08-18 11:50:00 Merc 0.0907 AU 35.3 LD 12.8 km/s
2035-08-18 11:50:00 Mercury 0.0907 AU 35.3 LD 12.8 km/s
2038-11-16 15:27:00 Earth 0.2987 AU 116.2 LD 17.2 km/s
2040-10-14 06:50:00 Earth 0.1785 AU 69.5 LD 10.2 km/s
2042-09-16 20:38:00 Earth 0.1193 AU 46.4 LD 15.7 km/s
2043-02-27 15:32:00 Earth 0.4976 AU 193.7 LD 20.4 km/s

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

Sources