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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 WC2

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(2018 WC2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.809 AU
True anomaly
257.63°
Distance from Earth
1.158 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 WC2 — 0.809 AU from the Sun 2018 WC2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 WC2 is 1.158 AU from Earth today (9.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 55m 39s
Declination
+03° 39′ 01″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.16 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.12° — 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
0.846 AU
Eccentricity
0.3356
Inclination
7.22°
Orbital period
284.2 days
Perihelion
0.562 AU
Aphelion
1.13 AU
Longitude of ascending node
250.1°
Argument of periapsis
317.93°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.0 LD
0.0052 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.905

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
41
Data arc
7.01 years
First observed
29 November 2018
Last observed
1 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 December 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.13

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 104 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 WC2 at 2032-11-30 09:29 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-11-30 09:29 UTC close approach of 2018 WC2. Catalogue miss distance 23.1 LD · 8.88 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-11-27 to 2032-12-03, 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 23.1 LD · 8.88 × 10⁶ km 2032-11-30 09:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-11-30 09:29 UTC close approach of 2018 WC2. Catalogue miss distance 23.1 LD · 8.88 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-11-27 to 2032-12-03, 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
2030-11-17 20:33:00 Venus 0.1273 AU 49.6 LD 11.3 km/s
2032-11-30 09:29:00 Earth 0.0594 AU 23.1 LD 8.1 km/s
2039-04-06 13:50:00 Venus 0.1404 AU 54.7 LD 8.8 km/s
2039-11-24 10:29:00 Earth 0.0974 AU 37.9 LD 7.6 km/s
2045-09-18 06:57:00 Venus 0.1171 AU 45.6 LD 16.4 km/s
2046-11-12 10:36:00 Earth 0.1342 AU 52.2 LD 7.5 km/s
2050-12-15 00:57:00 Venus 0.1254 AU 48.8 LD 9.4 km/s
2053-10-28 11:48:00 Earth 0.1583 AU 61.6 LD 7.6 km/s
2057-05-27 02:55:00 Venus 0.1123 AU 43.7 LD 16.1 km/s
2060-10-12 01:26:00 Earth 0.1634 AU 63.6 LD 7.4 km/s

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

Sources