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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 SN2

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(2018 SN2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.656 AU
True anomaly
355.46°
Distance from Earth
1.62 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 SN2 — 0.656 AU from the Sun 2018 SN2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 SN2 is 1.62 AU from Earth today (13.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 04m 19s
Declination
-07° 08′ 54″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.05° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.838 AU
Eccentricity
0.217
Inclination
13.08°
Orbital period
280 days
Perihelion
0.656 AU
Aphelion
1.019 AU
Longitude of ascending node
186.71°
Argument of periapsis
0.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.7 LD
0.0172 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.975

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
59
Data arc
16 days
First observed
29 September 2018
Last observed
15 October 2018
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 116 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 SN2 at 2028-10-15 06:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-15 06:08 UTC close approach of 2018 SN2. Catalogue miss distance 55.3 LD · 2.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-12 to 2028-10-18, 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 55.3 LD · 2.12 × 10⁷ km 2028-10-15 06:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-15 06:08 UTC close approach of 2018 SN2. Catalogue miss distance 55.3 LD · 2.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-12 to 2028-10-18, 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
2028-10-15 06:08:00 Earth 0.142 AU 55.3 LD 8.9 km/s
2031-06-13 05:58:00 Venus 0.1057 AU 41.1 LD 12.1 km/s
2031-09-16 07:33:00 Earth 0.1918 AU 74.6 LD 10.8 km/s
2032-02-01 12:16:00 Earth 0.315 AU 122.6 LD 9.5 km/s
2034-07-03 10:35:00 Venus 0.0738 AU 28.7 LD 11.3 km/s
2035-03-28 21:53:00 Earth 0.3423 AU 133.2 LD 13.4 km/s
2037-07-24 04:47:00 Venus 0.0626 AU 24.3 LD 11 km/s
2038-05-22 05:59:00 Earth 0.3427 AU 133.4 LD 10.2 km/s
2038-10-20 05:36:00 Earth 0.2934 AU 114.2 LD 13.2 km/s
2041-09-23 09:36:00 Earth 0.0554 AU 21.6 LD 7.8 km/s

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

Sources