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Asteroid Near-Earth

288592

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288592 (2004 JW20)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.443 AU
True anomaly
167.34°
Distance from Earth
2.294 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 288592 — 1.443 AU from the Sun 288592
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 288592 is 2.294 AU from Earth today (19.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 27m 20s
Declination
-16° 21′ 47″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
2.3 AU
Elongation from the Sun
23.87° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.953 AU
Eccentricity
0.5615
Inclination
14.73°
Orbital period
339.8 days
Perihelion
0.418 AU
Aphelion
1.488 AU
Longitude of ascending node
235.15°
Argument of periapsis
207.55°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 38.4 LD
0.0988 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.145

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
124
Data arc
18.15 years
First observed
15 May 2004
Last observed
8 July 2022
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.87

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
15 May 2004
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2004 JW20

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 172 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 288592 at 2029-05-12 21:00 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-12 21:00 UTC close approach of 288592. Catalogue miss distance 194.1 LD · 7.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-09 to 2029-05-15, 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 194.1 LD · 7.46 × 10⁷ km 2029-05-12 21:00 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-12 21:00 UTC close approach of 288592. Catalogue miss distance 194.1 LD · 7.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-09 to 2029-05-15, 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
2029-05-12 21:00:00 Earth 0.4988 AU 194.1 LD 32.5 km/s
2030-04-27 07:18:00 Earth 0.1351 AU 52.6 LD 20.2 km/s
2031-05-04 08:47:00 Earth 0.2917 AU 113.5 LD 13.2 km/s
2032-05-30 09:06:00 Earth 0.4662 AU 181.4 LD 14 km/s
2033-06-24 17:04:00 Earth 0.4874 AU 189.7 LD 13.8 km/s
2034-07-28 09:59:00 Earth 0.3597 AU 140.0 LD 11.9 km/s
2035-08-02 04:20:00 Earth 0.2876 AU 111.9 LD 21 km/s
2043-05-02 00:55:00 Earth 0.2411 AU 93.8 LD 24 km/s
2044-04-26 08:42:00 Earth 0.199 AU 77.4 LD 13.8 km/s
2045-05-22 16:49:00 Earth 0.4298 AU 167.3 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources