This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 4 badges
21 pts · Common
Common22 pts → Uncommon
Potentially hazardous+12
Near-Earth object+5
Amor: shadows Earth's orbit from outside+4
Catalogue designation only+0
Total score21
1 more point to reach Uncommon.
Badges
🌠Near-Earth object· +5
⚠️Potentially hazardous· +12
🔢Catalogue designation only
💘Amor: shadows Earth's orbit from outside· +4
✨ Trivia
Handle with care
🛡️What 'hazardous' means. 'Potentially hazardous' is bookkeeping, not a prediction: it means the orbit passes within 0.05 AU of Earth's and the body is big enough to matter. Nothing on that list is known to be on a collision course.
☄️If it ever hit. A rock this size arriving at a typical 20 km/s would release around 548 megatons — about 11 times the largest bomb ever detonated.
What it actually is
🛸Its orbit family. An Amor-class object. It approaches Earth's orbit from outside without ever crossing it — named for the asteroid Amor, which swept past at 16 million km in 1932.
🌞Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 1.03 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mars.
🔁One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 1.4 years.
🥏How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 1.03 and 1.45 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
🧱Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 1.9 football pitches across.
Standing on it
🦘Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.12 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
Properties
aphelion au
1.45
designation
875496
eccentricity
0.1675
full name
875496 (2004 PS42)
h mag
21.21
inclination
23.19
mean motion deg day
0.7117
moid au
0.047
name
(875496) 2004 PS42
number only
yes
orbit class
AMO
perihelion au
1.034
pha
yes
semi major au
1.242
About (875496) 2004 PS42
(875496) 2004 PS42 is a common neo. It swings within 1.034 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An Amor-class object. It approaches Earth's orbit from outside without ever crossing it — named for the asteroid Amor, which swept past at 16 million km in 1932.
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, (875496) 2004 PS42 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why (875496) 2004 PS42 is a common neo
(875496) 2004 PS42 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Near-Earth object, Potentially hazardous, Catalogue designation only and Amor: shadows Earth's orbit from outside — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.