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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 OJ5

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(2020 OJ5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.922 AU
True anomaly
86.99°
Distance from Earth
1.848 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 OJ5 — 0.922 AU from the Sun 2020 OJ5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 OJ5 is 1.848 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 58m 27s
Declination
-15° 51′ 32″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
14.71° — 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
0.968 AU
Eccentricity
0.1949
Inclination
22.24°
Orbital period
347.8 days
Perihelion
0.779 AU
Aphelion
1.157 AU
Longitude of ascending node
313.54°
Argument of periapsis
147.74°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 36.9 LD
0.0948 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.159

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
25
Data arc
33 days
First observed
20 July 2020
Last observed
22 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 92 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 OJ5 at 2037-04-02 07:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-04-02 07:10 UTC close approach of 2020 OJ5. Catalogue miss distance 168.0 LD · 6.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-03-30 to 2037-04-05, 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 168.0 LD · 6.46 × 10⁷ km 2037-04-02 07:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-04-02 07:10 UTC close approach of 2020 OJ5. Catalogue miss distance 168.0 LD · 6.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-03-30 to 2037-04-05, 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
2036-03-14 16:44:00 Venus 0.0759 AU 29.5 LD 15.5 km/s
2037-04-02 07:10:00 Earth 0.4316 AU 168.0 LD 17.9 km/s
2038-03-01 15:14:00 Earth 0.2362 AU 91.9 LD 14.8 km/s
2038-07-12 16:12:00 Earth 0.3441 AU 133.9 LD 11.9 km/s
2039-01-28 06:20:00 Earth 0.1994 AU 77.6 LD 14 km/s
2039-08-03 21:43:00 Earth 0.1594 AU 62.0 LD 11.2 km/s
2040-08-13 12:55:00 Earth 0.1457 AU 56.7 LD 12.8 km/s
2041-08-12 23:57:00 Earth 0.3831 AU 149.1 LD 18.3 km/s
2055-04-08 22:25:00 Venus 0.1495 AU 58.2 LD 15.3 km/s
2059-08-03 09:13:00 Earth 0.1654 AU 64.4 LD 11.2 km/s

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

Sources