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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 WU

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(2018 WU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.813 AU
True anomaly
135.81°
Distance from Earth
0.271 AU
As of
15 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 WU — 0.813 AU from the Sun 2018 WU
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 WU is 0.271 AU from Earth today (2.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 49m 07s
Declination
+13° 13′ 17″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
0.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.98° — 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
0.691 AU
Eccentricity
0.459
Inclination
14.81°
Orbital period
209.9 days
Perihelion
0.374 AU
Aphelion
1.008 AU
Longitude of ascending node
237.46°
Argument of periapsis
0.48°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.6 LD
0.0196 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.155

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
103
Data arc
10 days
First observed
18 November 2018
Last observed
28 November 2018
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 158 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 WU at 2026-11-06 05:33 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-06 05:33 UTC close approach of 2018 WU. Catalogue miss distance 68.0 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-09, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 68.0 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-06 05:33 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-06 05:33 UTC close approach of 2018 WU. Catalogue miss distance 68.0 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-09, 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 north 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
2026-11-06 05:33:00 Earth 0.1748 AU 68.0 LD 15.1 km/s
2027-02-18 14:30:00 Earth 0.4871 AU 189.6 LD 9.7 km/s
2029-12-02 11:19:00 Earth 0.3517 AU 136.9 LD 21.2 km/s
2030-02-03 17:32:00 Mercury 0.0899 AU 35.0 LD 26.6 km/s
2030-02-03 17:32:00 Merc 0.0899 AU 35.0 LD 26.6 km/s
2030-11-07 19:01:00 Earth 0.2868 AU 111.6 LD 19.1 km/s
2032-12-13 14:45:00 Merc 0.0859 AU 33.4 LD 29.9 km/s
2032-12-13 14:45:00 Mercury 0.0859 AU 33.4 LD 29.9 km/s
2033-12-05 08:02:00 Earth 0.2349 AU 91.4 LD 16.9 km/s
2034-11-11 07:40:00 Earth 0.4049 AU 157.6 LD 23.4 km/s

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

Sources