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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 OM

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(2020 OM)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.6 AU
True anomaly
261.72°
Distance from Earth
0.428 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 OM — 0.6 AU from the Sun 2020 OM
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 OM is 0.428 AU from Earth today (3.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 53m 34s
Declination
-23° 23′ 29″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
0.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.32° — 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
0.711 AU
Eccentricity
0.4612
Inclination
11.9°
Orbital period
219.1 days
Perihelion
0.383 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
117.17°
Argument of periapsis
3.85°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.6 LD
0.0195 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.958

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
23
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
18 July 2020
Last observed
19 July 2020
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.93

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 169 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 OM at 2029-07-22 16:01 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-22 16:01 UTC close approach of 2020 OM. Catalogue miss distance 10.3 LD · 3.96 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-19 to 2029-07-25, 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 20 Jul 25 Jul 10.3 LD · 3.96 × 10⁶ km 2029-07-22 16:01 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-22 16:01 UTC close approach of 2020 OM. Catalogue miss distance 10.3 LD · 3.96 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-19 to 2029-07-25, 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
2026-10-02 14:23:00 Venus 0.1147 AU 44.6 LD 19.8 km/s
2029-07-22 16:01:00 Earth 0.0265 AU 10.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2032-07-24 17:18:00 Earth 0.0318 AU 12.4 LD 9.4 km/s
2042-07-20 07:25:00 Venus 0.1121 AU 43.6 LD 16.2 km/s
2044-08-06 23:05:00 Earth 0.0894 AU 34.8 LD 10.9 km/s
2046-08-23 16:55:00 Merc 0.048 AU 18.7 LD 11.3 km/s
2046-08-23 16:55:00 Mercury 0.048 AU 18.7 LD 11.3 km/s
2047-08-09 19:21:00 Earth 0.1216 AU 47.3 LD 12 km/s
2048-11-26 06:06:00 Venus 0.0922 AU 35.9 LD 15.9 km/s
2049-07-06 05:57:00 Venus 0.1382 AU 53.8 LD 21.6 km/s

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

Sources