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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 YF2

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(2018 YF2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.787 AU
True anomaly
89.53°
Distance from Earth
1.149 AU
As of
20 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 YF2 — 0.787 AU from the Sun 2018 YF2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 YF2 is 1.149 AU from Earth today (9.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 20m 34s
Declination
+04° 49′ 34″
Constellation
Hercules
Distance from Earth
1.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.36° — 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
0.876 AU
Eccentricity
0.3146
Inclination
48.67°
Orbital period
299.3 days
Perihelion
0.6 AU
Aphelion
1.151 AU
Longitude of ascending node
264.87°
Argument of periapsis
328.31°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 34.5 LD
0.0885 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.457

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
98
Data arc
4.99 years
First observed
24 December 2018
Last observed
20 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.85

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 123 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 YF2 at 2027-12-19 06:39 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-19 06:39 UTC close approach of 2018 YF2. Catalogue miss distance 145.8 LD · 5.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-16 to 2027-12-22, 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 145.8 LD · 5.6 × 10⁷ km 2027-12-19 06:39 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-19 06:39 UTC close approach of 2018 YF2. Catalogue miss distance 145.8 LD · 5.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-16 to 2027-12-22, 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
2027-12-19 06:39:00 Earth 0.3746 AU 145.8 LD 23.6 km/s
2032-06-14 21:17:00 Earth 0.3929 AU 152.9 LD 32 km/s
2032-12-17 12:47:00 Earth 0.0988 AU 38.5 LD 24.3 km/s
2036-12-18 02:53:00 Earth 0.4263 AU 165.9 LD 23.9 km/s
2037-12-07 16:36:00 Earth 0.4872 AU 189.6 LD 32 km/s
2041-06-20 02:01:00 Earth 0.3896 AU 151.6 LD 32.1 km/s
2041-12-18 11:17:00 Earth 0.0898 AU 34.9 LD 23.8 km/s
2045-12-17 22:30:00 Earth 0.4752 AU 184.9 LD 24.3 km/s
2046-12-09 18:31:00 Earth 0.4305 AU 167.6 LD 30.6 km/s
2050-06-25 06:53:00 Earth 0.3932 AU 153.0 LD 32.2 km/s

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

Sources