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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 BX

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(2018 BX)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.901 AU
True anomaly
126.61°
Distance from Earth
0.353 AU
As of
17 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 2018 BX — 0.901 AU from the Sun 2018 BX
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 BX is 0.353 AU from Earth today (2.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 58m 49s
Declination
+29° 23′ 46″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.35 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.87° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.823 AU
Eccentricity
0.2219
Inclination
6.46°
Orbital period
272.5 days
Perihelion
0.64 AU
Aphelion
1.005 AU
Longitude of ascending node
298.48°
Argument of periapsis
338.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.7 LD
0.0017 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.096

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
29
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
18 January 2018
Last observed
19 January 2018
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
29.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 56 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 BX at 2027-01-26 10:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-26 10:56 UTC close approach of 2018 BX. Catalogue miss distance 75.6 LD · 2.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-23 to 2027-01-29, 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 75.6 LD · 2.91 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-26 10:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-26 10:56 UTC close approach of 2018 BX. Catalogue miss distance 75.6 LD · 2.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-23 to 2027-01-29, 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
2027-01-26 10:56:00 Earth 0.1943 AU 75.6 LD 11.4 km/s
2029-08-20 16:23:00 Earth 0.3318 AU 129.1 LD 9.8 km/s
2030-01-23 12:32:00 Earth 0.2965 AU 115.4 LD 14.7 km/s
2030-04-19 20:28:00 Venus 0.0901 AU 35.1 LD 8.8 km/s
2032-08-05 19:51:00 Earth 0.3527 AU 137.3 LD 11.1 km/s
2033-01-19 17:13:00 Earth 0.4011 AU 156.1 LD 18.1 km/s
2034-02-13 15:38:00 Venus 0.1326 AU 51.6 LD 11.7 km/s
2035-07-23 23:48:00 Earth 0.3668 AU 142.8 LD 11.9 km/s
2038-07-10 19:40:00 Earth 0.3753 AU 146.1 LD 12.4 km/s
2040-09-03 13:46:00 Venus 0.1068 AU 41.6 LD 8.6 km/s

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

Sources