Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 BH3

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2018 BH3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.702 AU
True anomaly
73.98°
Distance from Earth
0.605 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 2018 BH3 — 0.702 AU from the Sun 2018 BH3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 BH3 is 0.605 AU from Earth today (5.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 58m 27s
Declination
+08° 34′ 51″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.81° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.867 AU
Eccentricity
0.3385
Inclination
1.99°
Orbital period
294.7 days
Perihelion
0.573 AU
Aphelion
1.16 AU
Longitude of ascending node
298.86°
Argument of periapsis
50.31°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.2 LD
0.0005 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.772

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
99
Data arc
15 days
First observed
20 January 2018
Last observed
4 February 2018
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 62 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 BH3 at 2027-04-23 13:54 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-23 13:54 UTC close approach of 2018 BH3. Catalogue miss distance 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-20 to 2027-04-26, 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 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-23 13:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-23 13:54 UTC close approach of 2018 BH3. Catalogue miss distance 58.3 LD · 2.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-20 to 2027-04-26, 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
2027-04-23 13:54:00 Earth 0.1499 AU 58.3 LD 14 km/s
2031-04-23 00:51:00 Earth 0.0639 AU 24.8 LD 7.9 km/s
2034-11-17 15:46:00 Venus 0.0308 AU 12.0 LD 12.8 km/s
2035-03-15 22:33:00 Earth 0.1687 AU 65.7 LD 7.5 km/s
2039-01-31 00:42:00 Earth 0.1033 AU 40.2 LD 7.2 km/s
2039-07-13 17:15:00 Venus 0.0461 AU 17.9 LD 9.9 km/s
2043-01-21 18:00:00 Earth 0.1288 AU 50.1 LD 13.5 km/s
2047-10-23 05:48:00 Venus 0.1111 AU 43.2 LD 17.1 km/s
2048-04-23 13:17:00 Earth 0.134 AU 52.1 LD 13.5 km/s
2050-03-09 01:56:00 Venus 0.1364 AU 53.1 LD 8.9 km/s

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

Sources