2020 BW12 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.95 AU to 1.03 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 360 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.968 AU
- True anomaly
- 58.81°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.633 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
- 09h 50m 34s
- Declination
- -10° 18′ 18″
- Constellation
- Sextans
- Distance from Earth
- 0.63 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 69.12° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.99 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.042
- Inclination
- 18.76°
- Orbital period
- 360 days
- Perihelion
- 0.949 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.032 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 124.18°
- Argument of periapsis
- 251.02°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 6.9 LD
- 0.0177 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.08
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 35
- Data arc
- 4 days
- First observed
- 26 January 2020
- Last observed
- 30 January 2020
- Residual RMS
- 0.77 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.1
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 61 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-25 07:22 UTC close approach of 2020 BW12. Catalogue miss distance 186.9 LD · 7.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-22 to 2027-06-28, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-06-25 07:22:00 | Earth | 0.4803 AU | 186.9 LD | 17.9 km/s |
| 2083-02-01 09:39:00 | Earth | 0.4406 AU | 171.5 LD | 17.4 km/s |
| 2084-01-30 10:27:00 | Earth | 0.3523 AU | 137.1 LD | 15.2 km/s |
| 2085-01-27 18:52:00 | Earth | 0.2648 AU | 103.0 LD | 13.3 km/s |
| 2086-01-26 12:57:00 | Earth | 0.1786 AU | 69.5 LD | 11.7 km/s |
| 2087-01-25 13:28:00 | Earth | 0.0956 AU | 37.2 LD | 10.5 km/s |
| 2087-08-09 09:03:00 | Earth | 0.1867 AU | 72.6 LD | 10.7 km/s |
| 2088-01-24 22:57:00 | Earth | 0.0239 AU | 9.3 LD | 9.9 km/s |
| 2088-08-03 01:13:00 | Earth | 0.1153 AU | 44.9 LD | 10 km/s |
| 2089-01-23 18:08:00 | Earth | 0.055 AU | 21.4 LD | 9.8 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