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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 PK3

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(2020 PK3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.855 AU
True anomaly
60.92°
Distance from Earth
1.848 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 PK3 — 0.855 AU from the Sun 2020 PK3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 PK3 is 1.848 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 58m 02s
Declination
-09° 44′ 22″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
2.4° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.953 AU
Eccentricity
0.169
Inclination
6.09°
Orbital period
339.7 days
Perihelion
0.792 AU
Aphelion
1.114 AU
Longitude of ascending node
161.78°
Argument of periapsis
348.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 30.7 LD
0.0788 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.3

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
33
Data arc
32 days
First observed
13 August 2020
Last observed
14 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 104 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 PK3 at 2032-07-06 19:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-07-06 19:57 UTC close approach of 2020 PK3. Catalogue miss distance 144.0 LD · 5.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-07-03 to 2032-07-09, 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 144.0 LD · 5.54 × 10⁷ km 2032-07-06 19:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-07-06 19:57 UTC close approach of 2020 PK3. Catalogue miss distance 144.0 LD · 5.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-07-03 to 2032-07-09, 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
2027-09-06 19:20:00 Venus 0.1038 AU 40.4 LD 4.1 km/s
2029-07-01 23:49:00 Venus 0.0916 AU 35.7 LD 4.4 km/s
2032-07-06 19:57:00 Earth 0.3701 AU 144.0 LD 15.1 km/s
2033-07-24 11:04:00 Earth 0.1009 AU 39.3 LD 4.4 km/s
2034-02-08 20:50:00 Earth 0.1958 AU 76.2 LD 6.8 km/s
2034-10-24 10:22:00 Earth 0.1353 AU 52.6 LD 7.8 km/s
2045-07-12 06:35:00 Earth 0.492 AU 191.5 LD 18.9 km/s
2046-06-29 10:45:00 Earth 0.1185 AU 46.1 LD 6.4 km/s
2047-03-08 07:09:00 Earth 0.1962 AU 76.3 LD 6.9 km/s
2047-10-12 10:54:00 Earth 0.0808 AU 31.4 LD 4.7 km/s

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

Sources