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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 CW

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(2018 CW)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.835 AU
True anomaly
42.51°
Distance from Earth
0.774 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 2018 CW — 0.835 AU from the Sun 2018 CW
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 CW is 0.774 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 19m 53s
Declination
-40° 35′ 06″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
54.63° — 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
0.938 AU
Eccentricity
0.138
Inclination
29.31°
Orbital period
331.8 days
Perihelion
0.809 AU
Aphelion
1.067 AU
Longitude of ascending node
131.38°
Argument of periapsis
171.97°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 31.2 LD
0.0803 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.281

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
45
Data arc
388 days
First observed
14 January 2018
Last observed
6 February 2019
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.39

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 140 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 CW at 2027-09-06 19:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-06 19:14 UTC close approach of 2018 CW. Catalogue miss distance 135.9 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-03 to 2027-09-09, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 135.9 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-06 19:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-06 19:14 UTC close approach of 2018 CW. Catalogue miss distance 135.9 LD · 5.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-03 to 2027-09-09, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. 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
2027-09-06 19:14:00 Earth 0.3493 AU 135.9 LD 18.6 km/s
2028-01-30 05:07:00 Earth 0.1715 AU 66.8 LD 15.2 km/s
2028-07-15 18:51:00 Earth 0.2697 AU 104.9 LD 17.6 km/s
2029-02-03 20:11:00 Earth 0.3494 AU 136.0 LD 18.5 km/s
2030-05-17 21:40:00 Venus 0.1016 AU 39.5 LD 17 km/s
2037-09-03 02:40:00 Earth 0.3277 AU 127.6 LD 18.4 km/s
2038-01-30 05:57:00 Earth 0.1464 AU 57.0 LD 15 km/s
2038-07-13 04:00:00 Earth 0.2872 AU 111.8 LD 17.7 km/s
2039-02-04 08:46:00 Earth 0.3781 AU 147.2 LD 19 km/s
2047-08-31 17:38:00 Earth 0.3083 AU 120.0 LD 18.3 km/s

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

Sources