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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 PK20

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(2018 PK20)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.107 AU
True anomaly
158.18°
Distance from Earth
1.885 AU
As of
20 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 PK20 — 1.107 AU from the Sun 2018 PK20
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 PK20 is 1.885 AU from Earth today (15.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 25m 58s
Declination
-24° 05′ 55″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.76° — 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
0.892 AU
Eccentricity
0.2751
Inclination
10.16°
Orbital period
307.6 days
Perihelion
0.646 AU
Aphelion
1.137 AU
Longitude of ascending node
320.38°
Argument of periapsis
140.52°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.9 LD
0.0203 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.619

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
29
Data arc
11 days
First observed
5 August 2018
Last observed
16 August 2018
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 68 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 PK20 at 2028-05-13 17:32 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-13 17:32 UTC close approach of 2018 PK20. Catalogue miss distance 95.3 LD · 3.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-10 to 2028-05-16, 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 95.3 LD · 3.66 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-13 17:32 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-13 17:32 UTC close approach of 2018 PK20. Catalogue miss distance 95.3 LD · 3.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-10 to 2028-05-16, 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
2028-02-14 18:57:00 Venus 0.1311 AU 51.0 LD 9.9 km/s
2028-05-13 17:32:00 Earth 0.245 AU 95.3 LD 12.2 km/s
2028-12-23 20:26:00 Earth 0.3516 AU 136.8 LD 12.3 km/s
2029-08-12 16:26:00 Earth 0.3172 AU 123.5 LD 17.2 km/s
2034-02-04 04:50:00 Earth 0.315 AU 122.6 LD 11.8 km/s
2034-08-19 04:18:00 Earth 0.0231 AU 9.0 LD 8.6 km/s
2037-06-17 05:21:00 Venus 0.0573 AU 22.3 LD 11 km/s
2044-05-10 21:45:00 Earth 0.1996 AU 77.7 LD 9.9 km/s
2045-08-09 14:34:00 Earth 0.3961 AU 154.1 LD 19.6 km/s
2049-05-23 18:00:00 Earth 0.4135 AU 160.9 LD 18.5 km/s

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

Sources