Asteroids

2012TC4 help

Last update: 2026-03-17 23:26 UTC

Orbital Properties

Epoch

61200.0

MJD

Orbit type

Apollo

Perihelion (q)

0.966

Aphelion (Q)

2.275

Eccentricity (e)

0.404

Inclination (i)

0.5

deg

Orbit period (P)

753.5

Earth MOID

0.00010

U parameter

1.8

Next Earth close approach

Date

2050-10-19

Nominal distance (from Earth center)

0.01195

1787734

Maximum Brightness

25.4

mag

Risk

Object is not in risk list

Physical Properties

Absolute Magnitude (H)

26.7

mag

Diameter

12 - 27*

Taxonomic type

Rotation period (T)

0.2040

Discovery Information

Discovery Date

2012-10-04

Observatory

Pan-STARRS 1, Haleakala

ORBIT VISUALISATION TOOLS

External links

Proper elements

Epoch

Near present day

Near middle of observation arc

Orbit properties

Epoch
Semimajor Axis
Eccentricity (e)
Inclination (i)
Long. of Ascending Node (Ω)
Arg. of Perihelion (ω)
Mean Anomaly (M)
Perihelion distance
Aphelion distance
Asc. Node-Earth Sep.
Desc. Node-Earth Sep.
MOID
Orbit Period
U parameter

Value

1-sigma variation

Unit

Epoch

Value

61200.0000

1-sigma variation

Unit

MJD

Semimajor Axis

Value

1.620463

1-sigma variation

1.511E-7

Unit

Eccentricity (e)

Value

0.403797

1-sigma variation

4.343E-8

Unit

Inclination (i)

Value

0.5343

1-sigma variation

2.409E-6

Unit

Long. of Ascending Node (Ω)

Value

19.6950

1-sigma variation

3.943E-6

Unit

Arg. of Perihelion (ω)

Value

26.5748

1-sigma variation

9.031E-6

Unit

Mean Anomaly (M)

Value

60.00150

1-sigma variation

0.00021

Unit

Perihelion distance

Value

0.966126

1-sigma variation

Unit

Aphelion distance

Value

2.274801

1-sigma variation

Unit

Asc. Node-Earth Sep.

Value

-0.001288

1-sigma variation

Unit

Desc. Node-Earth Sep.

Value

1.118111

1-sigma variation

Unit

MOID

Value

0.000101

1-sigma variation

Unit

Orbit Period

Value

753.4548

1-sigma variation

Unit

U parameter

Value

1.8

1-sigma variation

Unit

Covariance Matrix

	a	e	i	Ω	ω	M
a	2.28307E-14	6.55296E-15	9.45715E-15	-1.66993E-13	-1.27155E-12	-3.16791E-11
e	6.55296E-15	1.88598E-15	-2.27625E-16	-4.33431E-14	-3.66150E-13	-9.09392E-12
i	9.45715E-15	-2.27625E-16	5.80479E-12	-9.08986E-12	6.62737E-12	-1.24304E-11
Ω	-1.66993E-13	-4.33431E-14	-9.08986E-12	1.55468E-11	-2.09834E-12	2.30628E-10
ω	-1.27155E-12	-3.66150E-13	6.62737E-12	-2.09834E-12	8.15504E-11	1.76460E-9
M	-3.16791E-11	-9.09392E-12	-1.24304E-11	2.30628E-10	1.76460E-9	4.39571E-8

Date of computation: 2026-03-17 23:26 UTC

Note: The ASCII file is in a format suitable for Orbfit input.

Download ASCII file:

Physical properties

Rotation Period
Quality
Amplitude
Rotation Direction
Spinvector L
Spinvector B

Rotational properties

Value

Unit

Source

Rotation Period

Value

0.2040

Unit

Source

[1]

Quality

Value

Unit

Source

[1]

Amplitude

Value

0.9

Unit

mag

Source

[1]

Rotation Direction

Value

Unit

Source

[-]

Spinvector L

Value

Unit

Source

[-]

Spinvector B

Value

Unit

Source

[-]

Taxonomy
Taxonomy (all)

Taxonomy

Value

Unit

Source

Taxonomy

Value

Unit

Source

[-]

Taxonomy (all)

Value

Unit

Source

[-]

Absolute Magnitude (H)
Slope Parameter (G)

H / G

Value

Unit

Source

Absolute Magnitude (H)

Value

26.685

Unit

mag

Source

[2]

Slope Parameter (G)

Value

0.15**

Unit

Source

[2]

Albedo
Diameter

Size and albedo

Value

Unit

Source

Albedo

Value

0.05 - 0.25

Unit

Source

[3]

Diameter

Value

12 - 27*

Unit

Source

[3]

Color Index Information

Color Index Information

Value

Unit

Source

Color Index Information

Value

Unit

mag

Source

[-]

Sightings

Sightings

Value

Unit

Source

Sightings

Value

Radar R

Unit

Source

[4]

Download this part as:

Sources

No.	Name	Additional
[1]	EARN	1.) Polishook, D. (2013) MPB 40, 42-43. (FAST ROTATION OF THE NEA 2012 TC4 INDICATES A MONOLITHIC STRUCTURE) 2.) de la Fuente Marcos,C. & R. de la Fuente Marcos (2012) MNRAS 432, 886-893. (Asteroid 2012 XE133, a transient companion to Venus ) 3.) Odden, C.E. et al (2013) MPB 40, 176-177. (LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS FOR NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID 2012 TC4) 4.) Carbognani, A. (2014) MPB 41, 4-8. (ASTEROIDS LIGHTCURVES AT OAVDA: 2012 JUNE - 2013 MARCH) (..,137199,329338,330825, 2012TC4) 5.) Tan, H. & Gao, X.(2018) MPB 45, 220-221. (Lightcurve Analysis for Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 TC4)
[2]	ESA Aegis	ESA orbit determination and impact monitoring system
[3]	Estimation	Estimated from absolute magnitude
[4]	EARN	1.) href="http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/index.html">JPL's NEO Radar Detection Program Webpage

Observational Information

Arc Length
Unobserved
Normalized RMS of residuals

Arc Information

Value

Unit

Source

Arc Length

Value

1897

Unit

Source

[1]

Unobserved

Value

3094

Unit

Source

[1]

Normalized RMS of residuals

Value

0.505241

Unit

Source

[1]

Astrometry Summary

First Observation
Last Observation
Total Optical Observations (Discarded)

Optical

Value

Unit

Source

First Observation

Value

2012-10-04.467661

Unit

Source

[2]

Last Observation

Value

2017-12-14.300667

Unit

Source

[2]

Total Optical Observations (Discarded)

Value

1138 (18)

Unit

Source

[1]

Radar Summary

First Observation
Last Observation
Delay (Discarded)
Doppler (Discarded)
Total Optical Observations (Discarded)

Radar

Value

Unit

Source

First Observation

Value

2017-10-09

Unit

Source

[3]

Last Observation

Value

2017-10-14

Unit

Source

[3]

Delay (Discarded)

Value

7 (0)

Unit

Source

[1]

Doppler (Discarded)

Value

2 (0)

Unit

Source

[1]

Total Radar Observations (Discarded)

Value

9 (0)

Unit

Source

[1]

Note: The ASCII file is in a format suitable for Orbfit input.

Sources

No.	Name	Additional
[1]	ESA Aegis	ESA orbit determination and impact monitoring system
[2]	MPC	Minor Planet Center: https://www.minorplanetcenter.net
[3]	JPL Radar Observations	Jet Propulsion Laboratory: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/dat/radar_data_ast.txt

Computation parameters

As seen from:

Initial Date: *

Final Date: *

Output option:

One line per time step

Time step:*

* - these fields are required

Note: Ephemerides requests are limited to a maximum of 1000 points and a final date not exceeding 2040/12/31 00:00.

Close Approaches for 2012TC4 from 1950 to 2126

Body	Date in UTC	Time uncert. in min	Nominal distance in au	Min. possible distance in au	Distance uncert. in au
EARTH	1953-09-24 23:08	510.3	0.1916016	0.1728752	0.0062421
EARTH	1963-11-07 08:50	> 1 w	0.0677616	0.0275224	0.0135987
EARTH	1974-02-03 01:49	> 1 d	0.0919360	0.0237231	0.0279277
EARTH	1986-10-09 15:32	288.8	0.0203317	0.0157495	0.0015274
EARTH	1996-10-13 02:19	1.9	0.0050974	0.0050762	0.0000071
EARTH	2012-10-12 05:29	< 1 s	0.0006348	0.0006348	0.0000000
EARTH	2017-10-12 05:41	< 1 s	0.0003352	0.0003352	0.0000000
MARS	2034-09-30 12:18	< 1 min	0.0499872	0.0499675	0.0000066
EARTH	2050-10-19 04:04	13.2	0.0119503	0.0119082	0.0000140
MARS	2076-02-13 16:11	70.7	0.0425265	0.0417126	0.0002988
EARTH	2079-11-22 12:57	721.7	0.0151961	0.0134632	0.0005876
EARTH	2110-11-14 05:38	> 1 w	0.0230968	0.0095067	0.0058151
MARS	2112-08-25 03:08	412.5	0.0342569	0.0342454	0.0002781

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Stationary Points

Ecc. an. ast.	Ecc. an. Earth	Distance in au	Classification
341.98170080	278.60089153	0.00010020	MINIMUM
14.12168399	327.02994499	0.00690761	MINIMUM
358.23796460	303.11688804	0.02519764	SADDLE
179.17716656	124.06771858	1.26417656	SADDLE
358.02902366	122.81547466	1.97657534	SADDLE
179.18817071	304.08195314	3.26566188	MAXIMUM

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MOID Plots

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