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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 BT2

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(2020 BT2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.997 AU
True anomaly
163.15°
Distance from Earth
1.315 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 BT2 — 0.997 AU from the Sun 2020 BT2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 BT2 is 1.315 AU from Earth today (10.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 21m 12s
Declination
+07° 17′ 56″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.9° — 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
0.724 AU
Eccentricity
0.4202
Inclination
4.09°
Orbital period
224.8 days
Perihelion
0.42 AU
Aphelion
1.028 AU
Longitude of ascending node
168.47°
Argument of periapsis
133.24°
Epoch · J2000
2458872.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.1 LD
0.0312 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.866

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
34
Data arc
16 days
First observed
20 January 2020
Last observed
5 February 2020
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.67

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 142 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 BT2 at 2031-01-06 19:21 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-06 19:21 UTC close approach of 2020 BT2. Catalogue miss distance 164.1 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-03 to 2031-01-09, 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 164.1 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km 2031-01-06 19:21 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-06 19:21 UTC close approach of 2020 BT2. Catalogue miss distance 164.1 LD · 6.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-03 to 2031-01-09, 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
2031-01-06 19:21:00 Earth 0.4217 AU 164.1 LD 23.5 km/s
2033-02-13 19:46:00 Earth 0.1998 AU 77.7 LD 16 km/s
2039-01-05 22:39:00 Earth 0.3962 AU 154.2 LD 22.5 km/s
2041-02-13 00:32:00 Earth 0.2307 AU 89.8 LD 17.1 km/s
2047-01-04 09:02:00 Earth 0.3528 AU 137.3 LD 21 km/s
2049-02-11 13:43:00 Earth 0.2785 AU 108.4 LD 18.7 km/s
2055-01-02 11:19:00 Earth 0.299 AU 116.4 LD 19.1 km/s
2057-02-09 16:39:00 Earth 0.3343 AU 130.1 LD 20.7 km/s
2062-12-31 19:24:00 Earth 0.2471 AU 96.1 LD 17.2 km/s
2065-02-07 20:14:00 Earth 0.385 AU 149.8 LD 22.5 km/s

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

Sources