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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 OQ

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(2018 OQ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.885 AU
True anomaly
137.59°
Distance from Earth
1.675 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 OQ — 0.885 AU from the Sun 2018 OQ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 OQ is 1.675 AU from Earth today (13.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 05m 58s
Declination
-17° 33′ 29″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.48° — 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
0.745 AU
Eccentricity
0.3712
Inclination
1.05°
Orbital period
235.1 days
Perihelion
0.469 AU
Aphelion
1.022 AU
Longitude of ascending node
268.1°
Argument of periapsis
212.09°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.9 LD
0.0075 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.683

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
31
Data arc
6 days
First observed
18 July 2018
Last observed
24 July 2018
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.8

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 167 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 OQ at 2027-07-06 15:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-06 15:27 UTC close approach of 2018 OQ. Catalogue miss distance 10.7 LD · 4.11 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-03 to 2027-07-09, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 4 Jul 10.7 LD · 4.11 × 10⁶ km 2027-07-06 15:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-06 15:27 UTC close approach of 2018 OQ. Catalogue miss distance 10.7 LD · 4.11 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-03 to 2027-07-09, 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. 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
2027-07-06 15:27:00 Earth 0.0274 AU 10.7 LD 7.1 km/s
2029-04-14 08:40:00 Earth 0.3842 AU 149.5 LD 8.6 km/s
2029-08-13 12:59:00 Earth 0.2123 AU 82.6 LD 13.4 km/s
2031-02-26 11:58:00 Earth 0.4903 AU 190.8 LD 17.8 km/s
2032-12-08 18:12:00 Venus 0.0567 AU 22.1 LD 11.9 km/s
2034-12-11 23:22:00 Earth 0.4784 AU 186.2 LD 17.1 km/s
2035-10-05 07:22:00 Venus 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 9 km/s
2036-05-21 03:57:00 Venus 0.1206 AU 46.9 LD 18.9 km/s
2036-07-01 09:23:00 Earth 0.1506 AU 58.6 LD 11.4 km/s
2036-10-20 13:50:00 Earth 0.3508 AU 136.5 LD 6.2 km/s

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

Sources