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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 MR8

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(2018 MR8)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.006 AU
True anomaly
111.23°
Distance from Earth
1.922 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 MR8 — 1.006 AU from the Sun 2018 MR8
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 MR8 is 1.922 AU from Earth today (16.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 04m 37s
Declination
-22° 15′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.26° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.972 AU
Eccentricity
0.1782
Inclination
27.95°
Orbital period
350.2 days
Perihelion
0.799 AU
Aphelion
1.146 AU
Longitude of ascending node
288.03°
Argument of periapsis
155.5°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 40.7 LD
0.1046 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.103

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
239
Data arc
2.79 years
First observed
31 August 2017
Last observed
14 June 2020
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 136 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 MR8 at 2039-02-10 14:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-02-10 14:46 UTC close approach of 2018 MR8. Catalogue miss distance 133.4 LD · 5.13 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-02-07 to 2039-02-13, 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 133.4 LD · 5.13 × 10⁷ km 2039-02-10 14:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-02-10 14:46 UTC close approach of 2018 MR8. Catalogue miss distance 133.4 LD · 5.13 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-02-07 to 2039-02-13, 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
2027-07-22 09:47:00 Venus 0.1186 AU 46.1 LD 19.7 km/s
2039-02-10 14:46:00 Earth 0.3429 AU 133.4 LD 19.2 km/s
2039-06-26 16:54:00 Earth 0.4114 AU 160.1 LD 15.6 km/s
2040-01-19 09:32:00 Earth 0.1868 AU 72.7 LD 17.1 km/s
2040-07-05 17:02:00 Earth 0.2315 AU 90.1 LD 14 km/s
2040-12-26 06:11:00 Earth 0.2264 AU 88.1 LD 16.9 km/s
2041-07-12 15:14:00 Earth 0.1052 AU 40.9 LD 13.9 km/s
2041-11-29 01:11:00 Earth 0.3958 AU 154.0 LD 17.4 km/s
2042-07-15 20:55:00 Earth 0.2328 AU 90.6 LD 16 km/s
2043-07-14 20:05:00 Earth 0.4407 AU 171.5 LD 20.3 km/s

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

Sources