Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 NF2

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2018 NF2)

2018 NF2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.89 AU to 1.17 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 382 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.174 AU
True anomaly
179.85°
Distance from Earth
1.906 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 NF2 — 1.174 AU from the Sun 2018 NF2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 NF2 is 1.906 AU from Earth today (15.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 47m 40s
Declination
-18° 39′ 24″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.91° — 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
1.03 AU
Eccentricity
0.1392
Inclination
25.49°
Orbital period
382 days
Perihelion
0.887 AU
Aphelion
1.174 AU
Longitude of ascending node
111.4°
Argument of periapsis
345.39°
Epoch · J2000
2458309.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 36.7 LD
0.0942 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.846

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
47
Data arc
11 days
First observed
8 July 2018
Last observed
19 July 2018
Residual RMS
0.25 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.8

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Sources