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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 BE

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(2020 BE)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.836 AU
True anomaly
337.17°
Distance from Earth
1.482 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 BE — 0.836 AU from the Sun 2020 BE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 BE is 1.482 AU from Earth today (12.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 01m 17s
Declination
-09° 39′ 30″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.47° — 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
0.937 AU
Eccentricity
0.1155
Inclination
47.66°
Orbital period
331.4 days
Perihelion
0.829 AU
Aphelion
1.045 AU
Longitude of ascending node
119.15°
Argument of periapsis
176.15°
Epoch · J2000
2458868.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 23.8 LD
0.0612 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.12

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
170
Data arc
15 days
First observed
17 January 2020
Last observed
1 February 2020
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.95

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 12 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 BE at 2029-01-27 02:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-27 02:23 UTC close approach of 2020 BE. Catalogue miss distance 169.0 LD · 6.5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-24 to 2029-01-30, 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. Sun 169.0 LD · 6.5 × 10⁷ km 2029-01-27 02:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-27 02:23 UTC close approach of 2020 BE. Catalogue miss distance 169.0 LD · 6.5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-24 to 2029-01-30, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-01-27 02:23:00 Earth 0.4342 AU 169.0 LD 26.6 km/s
2029-07-31 10:05:00 Earth 0.2352 AU 91.5 LD 26.6 km/s
2030-01-18 10:19:00 Earth 0.0935 AU 36.4 LD 23.6 km/s

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

Sources