Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 OC1

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2020 OC1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.044 AU
True anomaly
182.3°
Distance from Earth
1.569 AU
As of
21 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 OC1 — 1.044 AU from the Sun 2020 OC1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 OC1 is 1.569 AU from Earth today (13.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 32m 53s
Declination
-22° 56′ 59″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.82° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.931 AU
Eccentricity
0.1213
Inclination
6.59°
Orbital period
328.2 days
Perihelion
0.818 AU
Aphelion
1.044 AU
Longitude of ascending node
301.8°
Argument of periapsis
163.62°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.2 LD
0.0211 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.422

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
49
Data arc
27 days
First observed
17 July 2020
Last observed
13 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 108 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 OC1 at 2028-06-08 01:09 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-08 01:09 UTC close approach of 2020 OC1. Catalogue miss distance 164.4 LD · 6.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-05 to 2028-06-11, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 164.4 LD · 6.32 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-08 01:09 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-08 01:09 UTC close approach of 2020 OC1. Catalogue miss distance 164.4 LD · 6.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-05 to 2028-06-11, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-06-08 01:09:00 Earth 0.4225 AU 164.4 LD 14.7 km/s
2029-02-15 09:29:00 Earth 0.1537 AU 59.8 LD 5.3 km/s
2029-08-11 23:18:00 Earth 0.1009 AU 39.3 LD 5.8 km/s
2037-06-04 00:28:00 Earth 0.2811 AU 109.4 LD 10.3 km/s
2038-01-02 21:14:00 Venus 0.1018 AU 39.6 LD 5.7 km/s
2038-01-10 20:35:00 Earth 0.1673 AU 65.1 LD 5.9 km/s
2038-08-12 17:24:00 Earth 0.2484 AU 96.7 LD 10 km/s
2046-06-07 13:16:00 Earth 0.1461 AU 56.8 LD 5.9 km/s
2046-12-05 02:50:00 Earth 0.1721 AU 67.0 LD 5 km/s
2047-08-08 11:11:00 Earth 0.3956 AU 154.0 LD 14.4 km/s

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

Sources