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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 SY2

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(2018 SY2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.036 AU
True anomaly
161.26°
Distance from Earth
1.07 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 SY2 — 1.036 AU from the Sun 2018 SY2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 SY2 is 1.07 AU from Earth today (8.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 29m 01s
Declination
-04° 27′ 39″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.04° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.774 AU
Eccentricity
0.3839
Inclination
26.77°
Orbital period
248.5 days
Perihelion
0.477 AU
Aphelion
1.071 AU
Longitude of ascending node
277.48°
Argument of periapsis
246.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 71.6 LD
0.1839 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.362

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
35
Data arc
681 days
First observed
29 September 2018
Last observed
10 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.8

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 202 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 SY2 at 2031-05-23 17:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-05-23 17:18 UTC close approach of 2018 SY2. Catalogue miss distance 183.9 LD · 7.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-20 to 2031-05-26, 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 183.9 LD · 7.07 × 10⁷ km 2031-05-23 17:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-05-23 17:18 UTC close approach of 2018 SY2. Catalogue miss distance 183.9 LD · 7.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-20 to 2031-05-26, 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
2031-03-17 22:50:00 Venus 0.1234 AU 48.0 LD 24.2 km/s
2031-05-23 17:18:00 Earth 0.4726 AU 183.9 LD 14.3 km/s
2031-10-31 15:45:00 Earth 0.4276 AU 166.4 LD 20.9 km/s
2032-10-05 14:28:00 Venus 0.0415 AU 16.2 LD 22.8 km/s
2033-06-26 12:08:00 Earth 0.293 AU 114.0 LD 14.2 km/s
2033-11-22 19:24:00 Earth 0.3537 AU 137.7 LD 19 km/s
2035-07-14 22:50:00 Earth 0.184 AU 71.6 LD 17 km/s
2035-12-17 19:39:00 Earth 0.3737 AU 145.4 LD 19.6 km/s
2037-07-28 08:32:00 Earth 0.303 AU 117.9 LD 22.1 km/s
2038-01-11 00:21:00 Earth 0.4482 AU 174.4 LD 21.5 km/s

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

Sources