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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 BJ8

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(2020 BJ8)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.887 AU
True anomaly
252.54°
Distance from Earth
1.821 AU
As of
20 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 BJ8 — 0.887 AU from the Sun 2020 BJ8
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 BJ8 is 1.821 AU from Earth today (15.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 06m 19s
Declination
+01° 52′ 01″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.84° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.869 AU
Eccentricity
0.204
Inclination
29.31°
Orbital period
296 days
Perihelion
0.692 AU
Aphelion
1.046 AU
Longitude of ascending node
124.42°
Argument of periapsis
194.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 20.8 LD
0.0535 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.685

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
34
Data arc
6 days
First observed
24 January 2020
Last observed
30 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.25 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.14

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 72 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 BJ8 at 2028-08-06 20:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-06 20:50 UTC close approach of 2020 BJ8. Catalogue miss distance 129.0 LD · 4.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-03 to 2028-08-09, 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 129.0 LD · 4.96 × 10⁷ km 2028-08-06 20:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-06 20:50 UTC close approach of 2020 BJ8. Catalogue miss distance 129.0 LD · 4.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-03 to 2028-08-09, 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
2028-08-06 20:50:00 Earth 0.3316 AU 129.0 LD 19.7 km/s
2032-09-08 04:18:00 Earth 0.423 AU 164.6 LD 18.7 km/s
2033-01-28 11:29:00 Earth 0.249 AU 96.9 LD 16 km/s
2035-11-21 13:43:00 Venus 0.0717 AU 27.9 LD 18.3 km/s
2037-01-23 12:48:00 Earth 0.0599 AU 23.3 LD 15 km/s
2041-01-22 22:57:00 Earth 0.3098 AU 120.6 LD 18.8 km/s
2046-02-01 02:28:00 Earth 0.4295 AU 167.2 LD 19.1 km/s
2050-01-27 00:54:00 Earth 0.17 AU 66.2 LD 15.2 km/s
2054-01-23 00:25:00 Earth 0.1269 AU 49.4 LD 15.7 km/s
2058-01-24 07:54:00 Earth 0.4057 AU 157.9 LD 21 km/s

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

Sources