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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 HF4

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(2020 HF4)

2020 HF4 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.99 AU to 1.04 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 375.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.017 AU
True anomaly
271.11°
Distance from Earth
1.007 AU
As of
3 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 HF4 — 1.017 AU from the Sun 2020 HF4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 HF4 is 1.007 AU from Earth today (8.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 57m 23s
Declination
-26° 54′ 12″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
1.01 AU
Elongation from the Sun
61.14° — well clear of the Sun

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.

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
1.018 AU
Eccentricity
0.0243
Inclination
4.83°
Orbital period
375.1 days
Perihelion
0.993 AU
Aphelion
1.043 AU
Longitude of ascending node
38.79°
Argument of periapsis
31.25°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 1.4 LD
0.0035 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.993

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
28
Data arc
12 days
First observed
18 April 2020
Last observed
30 April 2020
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.4

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 33 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 HF4 at 2056-09-23 12:59 UTC Sun 150.3 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km 2056-09-23 12:59 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2056-09-23 12:59 UTC close approach of 2020 HF4. Catalogue miss distance 150.3 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2056-09-20 to 2056-09-26, 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
2056-09-23 12:59:00 Earth 0.3863 AU 150.3 LD 11.7 km/s
2057-10-14 22:15:00 Earth 0.2233 AU 86.9 LD 7.1 km/s
2058-06-25 08:42:00 Earth 0.114 AU 44.4 LD 3.2 km/s
2058-10-27 10:14:00 Earth 0.0661 AU 25.7 LD 3.2 km/s
2059-04-28 02:22:00 Earth 0.0263 AU 10.2 LD 2.6 km/s
2059-11-02 02:56:00 Earth 0.0552 AU 21.5 LD 3.1 km/s
2060-10-31 09:15:00 Earth 0.2238 AU 87.1 LD 7.2 km/s
2061-10-23 07:32:00 Earth 0.3972 AU 154.6 LD 12 km/s
2093-09-26 14:46:00 Earth 0.3809 AU 148.2 LD 11.5 km/s
2094-10-18 19:05:00 Earth 0.208 AU 81.0 LD 6.6 km/s

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

Sources