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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 MS1

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(2020 MS1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.013 AU
True anomaly
122.17°
Distance from Earth
1.918 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 MS1 — 1.013 AU from the Sun 2020 MS1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 MS1 is 1.918 AU from Earth today (16.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 47m 02s
Declination
-19° 01′ 39″
Constellation
Corvus
Distance from Earth
1.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.39° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.963 AU
Eccentricity
0.1176
Inclination
24.96°
Orbital period
345.1 days
Perihelion
0.85 AU
Aphelion
1.076 AU
Longitude of ascending node
271.2°
Argument of periapsis
151.03°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 16.2 LD
0.0416 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.178

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
118
Data arc
23 days
First observed
21 June 2020
Last observed
14 July 2020
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 40 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 MS1 at 2036-01-20 01:30 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-01-20 01:30 UTC close approach of 2020 MS1. Catalogue miss distance 118.5 LD · 4.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-01-17 to 2036-01-23, 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 118.5 LD · 4.55 × 10⁷ km 2036-01-20 01:30 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-01-20 01:30 UTC close approach of 2020 MS1. Catalogue miss distance 118.5 LD · 4.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-01-17 to 2036-01-23, 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
2036-01-20 01:30:00 Earth 0.3044 AU 118.5 LD 17.1 km/s
2036-06-19 05:48:00 Earth 0.3291 AU 128.1 LD 14.4 km/s
2036-12-21 07:40:00 Earth 0.1277 AU 49.7 LD 14.2 km/s
2037-06-23 13:39:00 Earth 0.0468 AU 18.2 LD 12.5 km/s
2038-06-21 19:15:00 Earth 0.2941 AU 114.4 LD 16.3 km/s
2053-06-17 18:35:00 Earth 0.4001 AU 155.7 LD 15.5 km/s
2053-12-23 14:19:00 Venus 0.1402 AU 54.5 LD 16.9 km/s
2054-06-23 10:12:00 Earth 0.1052 AU 40.9 LD 12.4 km/s
2055-06-23 03:58:00 Earth 0.2172 AU 84.5 LD 14.9 km/s
2070-06-15 10:27:00 Earth 0.4914 AU 191.3 LD 17.1 km/s

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

Sources