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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 KA1

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(2020 KA1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.765 AU
True anomaly
38.13°
Distance from Earth
1.18 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 KA1 — 0.765 AU from the Sun 2020 KA1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 KA1 is 1.18 AU from Earth today (9.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 05m 11s
Declination
-02° 52′ 58″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.18 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.02° — 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
0.891 AU
Eccentricity
0.1678
Inclination
14.67°
Orbital period
307.4 days
Perihelion
0.742 AU
Aphelion
1.041 AU
Longitude of ascending node
233.03°
Argument of periapsis
199.93°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.9 LD
0.0177 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.627

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
24
Data arc
5 days
First observed
16 May 2020
Last observed
21 May 2020
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 56 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 KA1 at 2036-05-19 05:54 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-05-19 05:54 UTC close approach of 2020 KA1. Catalogue miss distance 34.5 LD · 1.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-05-16 to 2036-05-22, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 34.5 LD · 1.33 × 10⁷ km 2036-05-19 05:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-05-19 05:54 UTC close approach of 2020 KA1. Catalogue miss distance 34.5 LD · 1.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-05-16 to 2036-05-22, 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 north 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
2031-10-07 12:30:00 Venus 0.1411 AU 54.9 LD 13.8 km/s
2036-05-19 05:54:00 Earth 0.0887 AU 34.5 LD 7.8 km/s
2041-01-05 01:34:00 Venus 0.0489 AU 19.0 LD 11.4 km/s
2041-05-08 03:27:00 Earth 0.1645 AU 64.0 LD 10.3 km/s
2052-05-25 12:53:00 Earth 0.1527 AU 59.4 LD 8.4 km/s
2057-01-01 22:07:00 Venus 0.0248 AU 9.7 LD 11.4 km/s
2057-05-08 17:40:00 Earth 0.1096 AU 42.6 LD 9.2 km/s
2068-05-26 17:37:00 Earth 0.1634 AU 63.6 LD 8.5 km/s
2073-01-02 00:38:00 Venus 0.064 AU 24.9 LD 11.5 km/s
2073-05-08 11:09:00 Earth 0.1189 AU 46.3 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources