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Asteroid Near-Earth

2024 BU4

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(2024 BU4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.016 AU
True anomaly
123.12°
Distance from Earth
1.61 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 2024 BU4 — 1.016 AU from the Sun 2024 BU4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2024 BU4 is 1.61 AU from Earth today (13.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 32m 40s
Declination
+04° 32′ 55″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.39° — 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
0.935 AU
Eccentricity
0.2579
Inclination
14.81°
Orbital period
330 days
Perihelion
0.694 AU
Aphelion
1.176 AU
Longitude of ascending node
324.37°
Argument of periapsis
46.92°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 20.4 LD
0.0523 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.359

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
101
Data arc
29 days
First observed
31 January 2024
Last observed
29 February 2024
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.56

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 136 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2024 BU4 at 2033-02-07 02:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-02-07 02:41 UTC close approach of 2024 BU4. Catalogue miss distance 87.6 LD · 3.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-02-04 to 2033-02-10, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 87.6 LD · 3.37 × 10⁷ km 2033-02-07 02:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-02-07 02:41 UTC close approach of 2024 BU4. Catalogue miss distance 87.6 LD · 3.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-02-04 to 2033-02-10, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-12-31 19:04:00 Venus 0.0609 AU 23.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2033-02-07 02:41:00 Earth 0.2251 AU 87.6 LD 15.7 km/s
2033-11-04 00:53:00 Earth 0.3499 AU 136.2 LD 9.7 km/s
2034-03-16 23:47:00 Earth 0.2581 AU 100.5 LD 8.6 km/s
2034-08-10 00:25:00 Earth 0.2585 AU 100.6 LD 11.6 km/s
2035-05-30 02:07:00 Earth 0.3694 AU 143.8 LD 16.8 km/s
2042-02-15 15:24:00 Earth 0.4628 AU 180.1 LD 22.7 km/s
2043-02-12 07:47:00 Earth 0.1145 AU 44.6 LD 8.9 km/s
2043-09-13 12:01:00 Earth 0.3187 AU 124.0 LD 12.6 km/s
2044-06-19 14:02:00 Earth 0.2332 AU 90.8 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources