2018 XG2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.97 AU to 1.09 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 380.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 March 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.043 AU
- True anomaly
- 252.11°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.83 AU
- As of
- 3 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 16h 25m 42s
- Declination
- -23° 58′ 41″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 1.83 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 26.56° — 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.
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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
- 1.028 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0558
- Inclination
- 10.87°
- Orbital period
- 380.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.971 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.085 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 72.35°
- Argument of periapsis
- 308.92°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
- 0.004 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.933
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 41
- Data arc
- 9 days
- First observed
- 3 December 2018
- Last observed
- 12 December 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.41 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 1 March 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 25.17
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 26 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2041-06-14 09:42 UTC close approach of 2018 XG2. Catalogue miss distance 119.8 LD · 4.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2041-06-11 to 2041-06-17, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2041-06-14 09:42:00 | Earth | 0.3079 AU | 119.8 LD | 11.5 km/s |
| 2042-06-10 17:42:00 | Earth | 0.0726 AU | 28.2 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2042-11-27 23:49:00 | Earth | 0.1565 AU | 60.9 LD | 6.6 km/s |
| 2043-12-08 16:00:00 | Earth | 0.1011 AU | 39.3 LD | 7.4 km/s |
| 2044-12-18 00:26:00 | Earth | 0.3652 AU | 142.1 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2066-06-15 04:10:00 | Earth | 0.2677 AU | 104.2 LD | 10.5 km/s |
| 2067-06-08 19:54:00 | Earth | 0.0502 AU | 19.5 LD | 5.9 km/s |
| 2067-11-29 14:25:00 | Earth | 0.1186 AU | 46.2 LD | 6.1 km/s |
| 2068-12-09 13:12:00 | Earth | 0.1362 AU | 53.0 LD | 8.1 km/s |
| 2069-12-20 01:14:00 | Earth | 0.3947 AU | 153.6 LD | 14.6 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB