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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 HQ3

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(2020 HQ3)

2020 HQ3 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.67 AU to 1.31 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 358.4 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 28 August 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.274 AU
True anomaly
161.22°
Distance from Earth
1.708 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 HQ3 — 1.274 AU from the Sun 2020 HQ3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 HQ3 is 1.708 AU from Earth today (14.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 30m 23s
Declination
+00° 20′ 32″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.71 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.94° — 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
0.987 AU
Eccentricity
0.3232
Inclination
3.64°
Orbital period
358.4 days
Perihelion
0.668 AU
Aphelion
1.306 AU
Longitude of ascending node
212.57°
Argument of periapsis
123.57°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.8 LD
0.0122 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.093

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
78
Data arc
18 days
First observed
16 April 2020
Last observed
4 May 2020
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.36

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 69 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 HQ3 at 2059-01-01 04:25 UTC Sun 156.9 LD · 6.03 × 10⁷ km 2059-01-01 04:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2059-01-01 04:25 UTC close approach of 2020 HQ3. Catalogue miss distance 156.9 LD · 6.03 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2058-12-29 to 2059-01-04, 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
2047-02-15 14:59:00 Venus 0.0889 AU 34.6 LD 13.3 km/s
2052-01-12 09:59:00 Venus 0.0386 AU 15.0 LD 9.3 km/s
2059-01-01 04:25:00 Earth 0.4032 AU 156.9 LD 22.5 km/s
2059-12-27 14:22:00 Earth 0.2933 AU 114.2 LD 19 km/s
2060-12-22 02:54:00 Earth 0.1839 AU 71.6 LD 15.6 km/s
2061-12-17 21:08:00 Earth 0.0817 AU 31.8 LD 12.1 km/s
2062-12-14 11:13:00 Earth 0.0658 AU 25.6 LD 8.8 km/s
2071-07-07 10:17:00 Venus 0.1314 AU 51.2 LD 14.7 km/s
2073-05-04 22:01:00 Earth 0.078 AU 30.4 LD 8 km/s
2074-05-03 12:10:00 Earth 0.0348 AU 13.5 LD 11.1 km/s

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

Sources