2020 FM is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.68 AU to 1.3 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 361 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.747 AU
- True anomaly
- 309.56°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.547 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
- 17h 51m 11s
- Declination
- -31° 59′ 59″
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Distance from Earth
- 0.54 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 47.59° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
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
- 0.992 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3125
- Inclination
- 21.61°
- Orbital period
- 361 days
- Perihelion
- 0.682 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.302 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 173.03°
- Argument of periapsis
- 246.29°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 8.9 LD
- 0.0228 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.016
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 72
- Data arc
- 369 days
- First observed
- 16 March 2020
- Last observed
- 20 March 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.39 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.1
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 152 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-05 04:03 UTC close approach of 2020 FM. Catalogue miss distance 165.8 LD · 6.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-02 to 2026-12-08, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-05 04:03:00 | Earth | 0.426 AU | 165.8 LD | 11.5 km/s |
| 2027-04-07 07:51:00 | Earth | 0.4025 AU | 156.6 LD | 11.1 km/s |
| 2027-11-21 17:15:00 | Earth | 0.4175 AU | 162.5 LD | 12.9 km/s |
| 2028-04-16 16:33:00 | Earth | 0.4419 AU | 172.0 LD | 10.8 km/s |
| 2028-11-08 20:51:00 | Earth | 0.399 AU | 155.3 LD | 13.7 km/s |
| 2029-04-28 06:11:00 | Earth | 0.4727 AU | 184.0 LD | 10.3 km/s |
| 2029-10-28 20:23:00 | Earth | 0.3728 AU | 145.1 LD | 14.1 km/s |
| 2030-05-12 06:31:00 | Earth | 0.4938 AU | 192.2 LD | 9.5 km/s |
| 2030-10-18 08:34:00 | Earth | 0.3408 AU | 132.6 LD | 14.2 km/s |
| 2031-10-08 08:21:00 | Earth | 0.3047 AU | 118.6 LD | 14.1 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