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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 SO2

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(2018 SO2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.857 AU
True anomaly
112.95°
Distance from Earth
1.631 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 SO2 — 0.857 AU from the Sun 2018 SO2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 SO2 is 1.631 AU from Earth today (13.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 17m 27s
Declination
-21° 05′ 46″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.11° — 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
0.836 AU
Eccentricity
0.3214
Inclination
5.42°
Orbital period
279.1 days
Perihelion
0.567 AU
Aphelion
1.104 AU
Longitude of ascending node
5.08°
Argument of periapsis
145°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0053 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.982

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
51
Data arc
2 days
First observed
29 September 2018
Last observed
1 October 2018
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 110 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 SO2 at 2028-03-09 18:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-09 18:50 UTC close approach of 2018 SO2. Catalogue miss distance 162.6 LD · 6.25 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-06 to 2028-03-12, 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 162.6 LD · 6.25 × 10⁷ km 2028-03-09 18:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-09 18:50 UTC close approach of 2018 SO2. Catalogue miss distance 162.6 LD · 6.25 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-06 to 2028-03-12, 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
2028-03-09 18:50:00 Earth 0.4179 AU 162.6 LD 15.2 km/s
2028-09-23 13:44:00 Earth 0.3759 AU 146.3 LD 19.6 km/s
2031-04-20 20:54:00 Earth 0.3595 AU 139.9 LD 10.8 km/s
2031-10-03 13:05:00 Earth 0.048 AU 18.7 LD 9.3 km/s
2032-02-01 21:09:00 Venus 0.0913 AU 35.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2034-08-08 11:57:00 Earth 0.1068 AU 41.6 LD 6.4 km/s
2034-11-30 19:42:00 Earth 0.2979 AU 115.9 LD 6 km/s
2035-02-07 22:54:00 Venus 0.1143 AU 44.5 LD 8.3 km/s
2037-07-19 04:15:00 Earth 0.2227 AU 86.7 LD 14 km/s
2038-01-19 06:22:00 Earth 0.4013 AU 156.2 LD 13.7 km/s

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

Sources