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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 DF

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(2020 DF)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.011 AU
True anomaly
172.26°
Distance from Earth
1.817 AU
As of
16 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 DF — 1.011 AU from the Sun 2020 DF
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 DF is 1.817 AU from Earth today (15.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 51m 13s
Declination
-00° 32′ 32″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.42° — 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
0.761 AU
Eccentricity
0.3351
Inclination
13.09°
Orbital period
242.4 days
Perihelion
0.506 AU
Aphelion
1.016 AU
Longitude of ascending node
322.53°
Argument of periapsis
18.51°
Epoch · J2000
2458896.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.0 LD
0.0025 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.541

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
22
Data arc
3 days
First observed
16 February 2020
Last observed
19 February 2020
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.18

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 DF at 2028-03-10 15:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-10 15:50 UTC close approach of 2020 DF. Catalogue miss distance 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-07 to 2028-03-13, 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 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km 2028-03-10 15:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-10 15:50 UTC close approach of 2020 DF. Catalogue miss distance 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-07 to 2028-03-13, 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
2028-03-10 15:50:00 Earth 0.1544 AU 60.1 LD 9.9 km/s
2030-03-15 13:50:00 Earth 0.203 AU 79.0 LD 11.7 km/s
2032-03-16 12:49:00 Earth 0.2601 AU 101.2 LD 13.9 km/s
2034-03-16 15:12:00 Earth 0.3239 AU 126.1 LD 16.3 km/s
2036-03-14 14:56:00 Earth 0.3918 AU 152.5 LD 18.8 km/s
2038-03-13 02:28:00 Earth 0.4615 AU 179.6 LD 21.3 km/s
2061-02-12 06:08:00 Earth 0.3864 AU 150.4 LD 20.4 km/s
2063-02-10 06:33:00 Earth 0.3106 AU 120.9 LD 17.9 km/s
2065-02-07 16:43:00 Earth 0.236 AU 91.8 LD 15.5 km/s
2067-02-06 22:17:00 Earth 0.1639 AU 63.8 LD 13.2 km/s

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

Sources