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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 AE

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(2020 AE)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.853 AU
True anomaly
79.33°
Distance from Earth
1.234 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 AE — 0.853 AU from the Sun 2020 AE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 AE is 1.234 AU from Earth today (10.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 45m 23s
Declination
-23° 38′ 23″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.43° — 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.

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
0.943 AU
Eccentricity
0.2359
Inclination
2.18°
Orbital period
334.5 days
Perihelion
0.721 AU
Aphelion
1.165 AU
Longitude of ascending node
67.04°
Argument of periapsis
159.57°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.4 LD
0.0268 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.345

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
62
Data arc
12 days
First observed
29 December 2019
Last observed
10 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 August 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 55 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 AE at 2029-10-17 00:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-17 00:46 UTC close approach of 2020 AE. Catalogue miss distance 61.0 LD · 2.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-14 to 2029-10-20, 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 61.0 LD · 2.34 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-17 00:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-17 00:46 UTC close approach of 2020 AE. Catalogue miss distance 61.0 LD · 2.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-14 to 2029-10-20, 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
2029-10-17 00:46:00 Earth 0.1567 AU 61.0 LD 5.6 km/s
2031-01-12 10:18:00 Earth 0.0672 AU 26.2 LD 9 km/s
2039-09-14 11:18:00 Earth 0.1936 AU 75.3 LD 12.9 km/s
2040-11-09 23:53:00 Earth 0.1758 AU 68.4 LD 6.1 km/s
2041-05-16 09:24:00 Venus 0.096 AU 37.4 LD 9.3 km/s
2042-01-08 19:09:00 Earth 0.1815 AU 70.6 LD 12.7 km/s
2043-03-08 05:19:00 Venus 0.0098 AU 3.8 LD 4.7 km/s
2045-01-04 06:29:00 Venus 0.0087 AU 3.4 LD 4.3 km/s
2046-10-24 13:36:00 Venus 0.0152 AU 5.9 LD 4.3 km/s
2048-08-13 19:42:00 Venus 0.0583 AU 22.7 LD 7.2 km/s

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

Sources