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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 AE3

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(2020 AE3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.056 AU
True anomaly
176.43°
Distance from Earth
1.691 AU
As of
17 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 2020 AE3 — 1.056 AU from the Sun 2020 AE3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 AE3 is 1.691 AU from Earth today (14.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 38m 37s
Declination
+11° 52′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.69 AU
Elongation from the Sun
35.83° — 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
0.82 AU
Eccentricity
0.2893
Inclination
28.1°
Orbital period
271.2 days
Perihelion
0.583 AU
Aphelion
1.057 AU
Longitude of ascending node
108.51°
Argument of periapsis
214.07°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
0.0042 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.016

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
45
Data arc
3.04 years
First observed
6 January 2020
Last observed
20 January 2023
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 August 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.25

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 177 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 AE3 at 2031-08-16 18:07 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-08-16 18:07 UTC close approach of 2020 AE3. Catalogue miss distance 187.1 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-08-13 to 2031-08-19, 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 Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 187.1 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km 2031-08-16 18:07 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-08-16 18:07 UTC close approach of 2020 AE3. Catalogue miss distance 187.1 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-08-13 to 2031-08-19, 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 Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-08-16 18:07:00 Earth 0.4807 AU 187.1 LD 21.4 km/s
2034-07-30 01:24:00 Earth 0.4426 AU 172.2 LD 22 km/s
2037-01-15 22:27:00 Earth 0.3482 AU 135.5 LD 22.7 km/s
2037-07-12 22:41:00 Earth 0.4119 AU 160.3 LD 21.8 km/s
2040-01-12 00:22:00 Earth 0.179 AU 69.7 LD 18.5 km/s
2040-06-25 23:13:00 Earth 0.3966 AU 154.3 LD 21.1 km/s
2043-01-09 07:23:00 Earth 0.014 AU 5.4 LD 15.5 km/s
2043-06-10 01:23:00 Earth 0.3997 AU 155.5 LD 20 km/s
2045-09-15 23:02:00 Venus 0.1222 AU 47.6 LD 19.1 km/s
2046-01-09 17:21:00 Earth 0.118 AU 45.9 LD 14.4 km/s

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

Sources