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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 KX1

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(2018 KX1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.781 AU
True anomaly
89.13°
Distance from Earth
1.471 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 KX1 — 0.781 AU from the Sun 2018 KX1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 KX1 is 1.471 AU from Earth today (12.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 42m 47s
Declination
-18° 45′ 54″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
1.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.58° — 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
0.854 AU
Eccentricity
0.287
Inclination
37.53°
Orbital period
288.5 days
Perihelion
0.609 AU
Aphelion
1.1 AU
Longitude of ascending node
233.3°
Argument of periapsis
181.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 34.7 LD
0.0892 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.705

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
42
Data arc
17 days
First observed
16 May 2018
Last observed
2 June 2018
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.98

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 28 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 KX1 at 2029-05-11 20:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-11 20:14 UTC close approach of 2018 KX1. Catalogue miss distance 129.5 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-08 to 2029-05-14, 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 129.5 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km 2029-05-11 20:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-11 20:14 UTC close approach of 2018 KX1. Catalogue miss distance 129.5 LD · 4.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-08 to 2029-05-14, 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
2027-06-19 07:02:00 Venus 0.1177 AU 45.8 LD 28.3 km/s
2029-05-11 20:14:00 Earth 0.3327 AU 129.5 LD 20.6 km/s
2029-10-25 04:10:00 Earth 0.4226 AU 164.5 LD 26.5 km/s
2032-12-28 13:08:00 Venus 0.14 AU 54.5 LD 28.5 km/s
2033-05-13 09:44:00 Earth 0.1196 AU 46.5 LD 18.1 km/s
2037-05-16 00:36:00 Earth 0.1813 AU 70.6 LD 18.7 km/s
2041-05-16 14:35:00 Earth 0.4096 AU 159.4 LD 22.2 km/s
2044-05-11 17:56:00 Earth 0.3698 AU 143.9 LD 21.2 km/s
2048-05-12 20:11:00 Earth 0.1458 AU 56.7 LD 18.3 km/s
2059-05-12 15:38:00 Earth 0.4023 AU 156.6 LD 21.9 km/s

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

Sources