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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:43 
Transit: 13:00 
Sunset: 21:18
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Near Earth Objects » 

Asteroid 99942 Apophis

Above the horizon.  Rise: 6:24 | Tran: 14:18 | Set: 22:12
Alt: 57.20°   Az: 152.77°   Direction: South-South-East
Please note: this information pertains to a Near-Earth Object (NEO). During close approaches, our current computational model is not able to provide an accurate position, due to the high speeds of these objects. We plan to refine our algorithms to improve accuracy in the future. JPL Horizons can compute precise positions in these situations.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of 296,487,624.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 58m 45s and the Declination is +20° 57’ 28” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 99942 Apophis is 21.52.

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 99942 Apophis in Gemini on June, 16 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 99942 Apophis in Gemini on June, 16 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 99942 Apophis is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

99942 Apophis
RA: 06h 57m 14s
Dec: +20° 59’ 36”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 99942 Apophis. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 99942 Apophis?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 99942 Apophis in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 58m 45s
+20° 57’ 28”
22h 58m 26s
05h 57m 12s

J2000

06h 57m 14s
+20° 59’ 36”

Additional Information

Gemini
21.52

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 99942 Apophis from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 69.0°
Max altitude: 59.5°
Azimuth: 290.9°
  • 99942 Apophis is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 57.20° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 99942 Apophis is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 99942 Apophis from Earth is currently 296,487,624.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.9818973533 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 28.976s to travel from Asteroid 99942 Apophis and arrive to us.

296,487,624.0
1.9818973533
16m 28.976s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 99942 Apophis 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 99942 Apophis 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.

Closest Approach

During the next 10 years, the closest approach of Asteroid 99942 Apophis to Earth happens on Fri Apr 13 2029 at a distance of 0.000254 Astronomical Units, or 38,011 kilometers:

Fri Apr 13 2029
38,011
0.000254

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 99942 Apophis, 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 99942 Apophis as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 99942 Apophis at epoch 30 March 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460400.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.19129073
Orbit inclination i 3.33973639°
Perihelion distance q 0.74607647 AU
111,611,452 km
Aphelion distance Q 1.09902781 AU
164,412,220 km
Semi-major axis a 0.92255214 AU
138,011,836 km
Orbital period period 0.8861 years
323.6569 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Mar-26 07:17:55
2,460,395.8041 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Feb-12 23:03
2,460,719.4610 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 126.68323178996°
Longitude of the ascending node node 203.91537218109°
Mean anomaly M 5.2231884488416°
Mean motion n 1.11228913°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 99942 Apophis
View Asteroid 99942 Apophis in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 99942 Apophis. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 0.325 km 0.0000
Sideral Rotation 30.4000 hours 1.2701
Absolute Magnitude 19.7
Geometric Albedo 0.23

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 99942 Apophis 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 Jun 09 06h 29m 35s +21° 28’ 18” 21.49 Gemini
2025 Jun 10 06h 33m 31s +21° 25’ 16” 21.50 Gemini
2025 Jun 11 06h 37m 25s +21° 21’ 54” 21.50 Gemini
2025 Jun 12 06h 41m 19s +21° 18’ 11” 21.50 Gemini
2025 Jun 13 06h 45m 12s +21° 14’ 10” 21.51 Gemini
2025 Jun 14 06h 49m 05s +21° 09’ 48” 21.51 Gemini
2025 Jun 15 06h 52m 57s +21° 05’ 08” 21.52 Gemini
2025 Jun 16 06h 56m 48s +21° 00’ 09” 21.52 Gemini
2025 Jun 17 07h 00m 37s +20° 54’ 50” 21.53 Gemini
2025 Jun 18 07h 04m 26s +20° 49’ 13” 21.53 Gemini
2025 Jun 19 07h 08m 15s +20° 43’ 18” 21.53 Gemini
2025 Jun 20 07h 12m 03s +20° 37’ 05” 21.54 Gemini
2025 Jun 21 07h 15m 50s +20° 30’ 33” 21.54 Gemini
2025 Jun 22 07h 19m 37s +20° 23’ 44” 21.54 Gemini

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