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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 QL1

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(2020 QL1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.54 AU
True anomaly
58.46°
Distance from Earth
1.505 AU
As of
16 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 QL1 — 0.54 AU from the Sun 2020 QL1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 QL1 is 1.505 AU from Earth today (12.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 29m 13s
Declination
-00° 45′ 44″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.55° — 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
0.806 AU
Eccentricity
0.4251
Inclination
29.98°
Orbital period
264.1 days
Perihelion
0.463 AU
Aphelion
1.148 AU
Longitude of ascending node
148.55°
Argument of periapsis
350.16°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 46.1 LD
0.1185 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.077

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
38
Data arc
7 days
First observed
14 August 2020
Last observed
21 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 101 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 QL1 at 2028-08-30 16:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-30 16:08 UTC close approach of 2020 QL1. Catalogue miss distance 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-27 to 2028-09-02, 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 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km 2028-08-30 16:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-30 16:08 UTC close approach of 2020 QL1. Catalogue miss distance 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-27 to 2028-09-02, 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
2028-08-30 16:08:00 Earth 0.1932 AU 75.2 LD 17.7 km/s
2030-07-31 23:15:00 Earth 0.4705 AU 183.1 LD 22.1 km/s
2033-08-20 00:25:00 Earth 0.1441 AU 56.1 LD 15.3 km/s
2036-08-28 21:23:00 Earth 0.3982 AU 155.0 LD 23.5 km/s
2038-08-05 01:44:00 Earth 0.3012 AU 117.2 LD 17.1 km/s
2041-08-29 18:37:00 Earth 0.1537 AU 59.8 LD 16.7 km/s
2046-08-16 23:57:00 Earth 0.1707 AU 66.4 LD 15.4 km/s
2049-08-30 12:01:00 Earth 0.3396 AU 132.1 LD 21.7 km/s
2051-08-03 06:32:00 Earth 0.3409 AU 132.7 LD 18 km/s
2054-08-28 05:34:00 Earth 0.128 AU 49.8 LD 16 km/s

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

Sources