2020 AK3 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.85 AU to 1.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 358.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 29 December 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.082 AU
- True anomaly
- 221.85°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.839 AU
- As of
- 2 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
- 10h 17m 18s
- Declination
- +19° 08′ 56″
- Constellation
- Leo
- Distance from Earth
- 0.84 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 71.89° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.
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
- 0.988 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1401
- Inclination
- 10.93°
- Orbital period
- 358.9 days
- Perihelion
- 0.85 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.127 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 301.92°
- Argument of periapsis
- 283.25°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 5.2 LD
- 0.0133 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.112
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 51
- Data arc
- 14 days
- First observed
- 14 January 2020
- Last observed
- 28 January 2020
- Residual RMS
- 0.55 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 29 December 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.13
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 32 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2068-09-05 17:51 UTC close approach of 2020 AK3. Catalogue miss distance 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2068-09-02 to 2068-09-08, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2068-09-05 17:51:00 | Earth | 0.4489 AU | 174.7 LD | 18.5 km/s |
| 2069-08-31 18:03:00 | Earth | 0.3495 AU | 136.0 LD | 15.6 km/s |
| 2070-08-26 06:37:00 | Earth | 0.2512 AU | 97.7 LD | 12.8 km/s |
| 2071-08-20 00:19:00 | Earth | 0.1567 AU | 61.0 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2072-08-11 03:47:00 | Earth | 0.0784 AU | 30.5 LD | 8.1 km/s |
| 2078-01-22 05:11:00 | Earth | 0.0888 AU | 34.6 LD | 6 km/s |
| 2079-01-25 01:58:00 | Earth | 0.0156 AU | 6.1 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2080-01-23 11:32:00 | Earth | 0.1155 AU | 45.0 LD | 9.7 km/s |
| 2081-01-19 05:43:00 | Earth | 0.228 AU | 88.7 LD | 12.7 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