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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

480820

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480820 (1998 VF32)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.065 AU
True anomaly
143.83°
Distance from Earth
0.849 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 480820 — 1.065 AU from the Sun 480820
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 480820 is 0.849 AU from Earth today (7.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 14m 07s
Declination
+05° 45′ 45″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
70.12° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.851 AU
Eccentricity
0.4438
Inclination
23.75°
Orbital period
286.6 days
Perihelion
0.473 AU
Aphelion
1.228 AU
Longitude of ascending node
236.25°
Argument of periapsis
320.96°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 14.1 LD
0.0363 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.779

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
160
Data arc
24.84 years
First observed
14 November 1998
Last observed
18 September 2023
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 September 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.97

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
14 November 1998
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1998 VF32

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 215 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 480820 at 2027-05-29 19:02 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-29 19:02 UTC close approach of 480820. Catalogue miss distance 186.1 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-26 to 2027-06-01, 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 186.1 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-29 19:02 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-29 19:02 UTC close approach of 480820. Catalogue miss distance 186.1 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-26 to 2027-06-01, 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
2027-05-29 19:02:00 Earth 0.4783 AU 186.1 LD 23 km/s
2027-11-12 18:37:00 Earth 0.2399 AU 93.4 LD 13.6 km/s
2028-03-02 12:32:00 Mercury 0.0919 AU 35.8 LD 28.6 km/s
2028-03-02 12:32:00 Merc 0.0919 AU 35.8 LD 28.6 km/s
2030-08-30 02:09:00 Earth 0.4634 AU 180.4 LD 20.1 km/s
2031-11-20 02:21:00 Earth 0.1611 AU 62.7 LD 20.3 km/s
2034-07-09 01:14:00 Earth 0.4238 AU 164.9 LD 17 km/s
2034-10-08 17:06:00 Earth 0.403 AU 156.9 LD 13.1 km/s
2038-05-22 02:22:00 Earth 0.4905 AU 190.9 LD 23.9 km/s
2038-11-17 12:45:00 Earth 0.1832 AU 71.3 LD 13.8 km/s

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

Sources