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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 WC

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(2018 WC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.922 AU
True anomaly
223.25°
Distance from Earth
1.245 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 WC — 0.922 AU from the Sun 2018 WC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 WC is 1.245 AU from Earth today (10.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 17m 22s
Declination
-13° 57′ 22″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
1.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.91° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.791 AU
Eccentricity
0.3064
Inclination
40.84°
Orbital period
256.7 days
Perihelion
0.548 AU
Aphelion
1.033 AU
Longitude of ascending node
237.48°
Argument of periapsis
9.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 14.5 LD
0.0373 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.144

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
120
Data arc
33 days
First observed
6 November 2018
Last observed
9 December 2018
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 118 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 WC at 2028-05-26 04:16 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-26 04:16 UTC close approach of 2018 WC. Catalogue miss distance 182.8 LD · 7.03 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-23 to 2028-05-29, 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 182.8 LD · 7.03 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-26 04:16 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-26 04:16 UTC close approach of 2018 WC. Catalogue miss distance 182.8 LD · 7.03 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-23 to 2028-05-29, 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
2028-05-26 04:16:00 Earth 0.4697 AU 182.8 LD 30.4 km/s
2030-11-19 18:24:00 Earth 0.2708 AU 105.4 LD 21 km/s
2032-11-21 22:01:00 Earth 0.2828 AU 110.1 LD 23.2 km/s
2036-10-31 14:12:00 Mercury 0.0955 AU 37.2 LD 35.8 km/s
2036-10-31 14:12:00 Merc 0.0955 AU 37.2 LD 35.8 km/s
2037-11-19 11:28:00 Earth 0.1315 AU 51.2 LD 19.9 km/s
2039-11-25 13:46:00 Earth 0.4289 AU 166.9 LD 26.3 km/s
2040-05-01 19:17:00 Earth 0.47 AU 182.9 LD 30.1 km/s
2044-11-19 11:08:00 Earth 0.0405 AU 15.8 LD 20 km/s
2045-04-07 05:05:00 Merc 0.0911 AU 35.5 LD 35.3 km/s

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

Sources