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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 FA4

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(2026 FA4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.145 AU
True anomaly
178.53°
Distance from Earth
1.971 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 2026 FA4 — 1.145 AU from the Sun 2026 FA4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 FA4 is 1.971 AU from Earth today (16.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 55m 06s
Declination
-00° 10′ 54″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.81° — 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
0.775 AU
Eccentricity
0.4784
Inclination
4.58°
Orbital period
249 days
Perihelion
0.404 AU
Aphelion
1.145 AU
Longitude of ascending node
171.7°
Argument of periapsis
167.03°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.4 LD
0.0267 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.394

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
41
Data arc
6 days
First observed
22 March 2026
Last observed
28 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.28 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.08

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 126 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 FA4 at 2028-02-28 20:01 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-28 20:01 UTC close approach of 2026 FA4. Catalogue miss distance 60.6 LD · 2.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-25 to 2028-03-02, 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. Sun 60.6 LD · 2.33 × 10⁷ km 2028-02-28 20:01 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-28 20:01 UTC close approach of 2026 FA4. Catalogue miss distance 60.6 LD · 2.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-25 to 2028-03-02, 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
2028-02-28 20:01:00 Earth 0.1558 AU 60.6 LD 10.2 km/s
2028-07-03 01:04:00 Merc 0.0855 AU 33.3 LD 23 km/s
2028-07-03 01:04:00 Mercury 0.0855 AU 33.3 LD 23 km/s
2030-01-27 00:57:00 Earth 0.0691 AU 26.9 LD 11.3 km/s
2032-08-05 05:40:00 Merc 0.0583 AU 22.7 LD 18.1 km/s
2032-08-05 05:40:00 Mercury 0.0583 AU 22.7 LD 18.1 km/s
2034-07-12 20:11:00 Venus 0.0396 AU 15.4 LD 16.6 km/s
2036-09-07 00:54:00 Merc 0.0571 AU 22.2 LD 14.8 km/s
2036-09-07 00:54:00 Mercury 0.0571 AU 22.2 LD 14.8 km/s
2040-09-02 16:18:00 Venus 0.0784 AU 30.5 LD 21.5 km/s

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

Sources