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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 FH1

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(2018 FH1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.968 AU
True anomaly
249.85°
Distance from Earth
1.327 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 FH1 — 0.968 AU from the Sun 2018 FH1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 FH1 is 1.327 AU from Earth today (11.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 59m 49s
Declination
-20° 32′ 11″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.33 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.58° — 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
0.1771
Inclination
3.55°
Orbital period
331.9 days
Perihelion
0.772 AU
Aphelion
1.104 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.36°
Argument of periapsis
232.98°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.1 LD
0.008 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.381

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
46
Data arc
5 days
First observed
18 March 2018
Last observed
23 March 2018
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 75 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 FH1 at 2028-03-16 22:25 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-16 22:25 UTC close approach of 2018 FH1. Catalogue miss distance 9.11 LD · 3.5 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-13 to 2028-03-19, 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 9.11 LD · 3.5 × 10⁶ km 2028-03-16 22:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-16 22:25 UTC close approach of 2018 FH1. Catalogue miss distance 9.11 LD · 3.5 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-13 to 2028-03-19, 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
2028-03-16 22:25:00 Earth 0.0234 AU 9.1 LD 4.3 km/s
2028-10-12 04:41:00 Earth 0.2089 AU 81.3 LD 6.4 km/s
2029-07-03 11:47:00 Earth 0.2563 AU 99.7 LD 12.1 km/s
2036-01-22 01:57:00 Venus 0.1149 AU 44.7 LD 4.9 km/s
2037-03-23 15:30:00 Earth 0.3368 AU 131.1 LD 15 km/s
2037-12-26 22:11:00 Earth 0.1956 AU 76.1 LD 5.3 km/s
2038-06-01 23:51:00 Earth 0.1019 AU 39.7 LD 3.7 km/s
2038-08-10 18:36:00 Earth 0.1284 AU 50.0 LD 2.9 km/s
2039-06-25 01:03:00 Earth 0.4585 AU 178.4 LD 18.3 km/s
2047-03-16 04:05:00 Earth 0.1361 AU 53.0 LD 8.9 km/s

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

Sources