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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 2012 TC4

Below the horizon.  Rise: 3:35 | Tran: 7:26 | Set: 11:18
Alt: -8.64°   Az: 116.01°   Direction: East-South-East

Asteroid 2012 TC4 is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 366,222,131.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 16h 53m 03s and the Declination is -22° 48’ 15” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 2012 TC4 is 31.55 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 2012 TC4 in Ophiuchus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 2012 TC4 in Ophiuchus on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 2012 TC4 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

2012 TC4
RA: 16h 51m 32s
Dec: -22° 45’ 49”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 2012 TC4. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 2012 TC4?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 2012 TC4 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

16h 53m 03s
-22° 48’ 15”
19h 01m 50s
11h 54m 53s

J2000

16h 51m 32s
-22° 45’ 49”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
31.55

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 2012 TC4 from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 112.8°
Max altitude: 15.7°
Azimuth: 247.2°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 2012 TC4 from Earth is currently 366,222,131.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.4480437408 Astronomical Units. Light takes 20m 21.586s to travel from Asteroid 2012 TC4 and arrive to us.

366,222,131.0
2.4480437408
20m 21.586s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 2012 TC4 from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 2012 TC4 from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 2012 TC4 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 2012 TC4 to Earth happens on Thu Oct 12 2017 at a distance of 0.001009 Astronomical Units, or 150,903 kilometers:

Thu Oct 12 2017
150,903
0.001009

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 2012 TC4, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 2012 TC4 as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 2012 TC4 at epoch 16 October 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460600.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.40390922
Orbit inclination i 0.53443475°
Perihelion distance q 0.96591057 AU
144,498,165 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.27490644 AU
340,321,160 km
Semi-major axis a 1.62040850 AU
242,409,662 km
Orbital period period 2.0627 years
753.4166 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Jan-11 21:50:34
2,460,321.4101 JD
Next perihelion transit 2026-Feb-03 07:50
2,461,074.8267 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 26.54887567949°
Longitude of the ascending node node 19.70834489237°
Mean anomaly M 133.3556410329°
Mean motion n 0.47782328°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 2012 TC4
View Asteroid 2012 TC4 in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 2012 TC4 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 04 16h 42m 08s -22° 28’ 13” 31.60 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 05 16h 43m 42s -22° 31’ 14” 31.60 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 16h 45m 15s -22° 34’ 12” 31.59 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 16h 46m 48s -22° 37’ 06” 31.58 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 08 16h 48m 20s -22° 39’ 55” 31.58 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 09 16h 49m 51s -22° 42’ 41” 31.57 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 10 16h 51m 23s -22° 45’ 21” 31.56 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 11 16h 52m 53s -22° 47’ 59” 31.55 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 12 16h 54m 23s -22° 50’ 32” 31.54 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 13 16h 55m 53s -22° 53’ 02” 31.54 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 14 16h 57m 23s -22° 55’ 27” 31.53 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 15 16h 58m 51s -22° 57’ 49” 31.52 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 16 17h 00m 19s -23° 00’ 07” 31.51 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 17 17h 01m 46s -23° 02’ 20” 31.50 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources