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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 QW2

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(2020 QW2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.877 AU
True anomaly
128.22°
Distance from Earth
1.4 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 QW2 — 0.877 AU from the Sun 2020 QW2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 QW2 is 1.4 AU from Earth today (11.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 04m 29s
Declination
-08° 41′ 29″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
38.6° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.788 AU
Eccentricity
0.4172
Inclination
19.74°
Orbital period
255.3 days
Perihelion
0.459 AU
Aphelion
1.116 AU
Longitude of ascending node
211.96°
Argument of periapsis
307.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 32.0 LD
0.0823 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.273

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
100
Data arc
742 days
First observed
18 August 2020
Last observed
30 August 2022
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 230 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 QW2 at 2027-06-14 00:05 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-14 00:05 UTC close approach of 2020 QW2. Catalogue miss distance 144.5 LD · 5.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-11 to 2027-06-17, 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 144.5 LD · 5.56 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-14 00:05 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-14 00:05 UTC close approach of 2020 QW2. Catalogue miss distance 144.5 LD · 5.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-11 to 2027-06-17, 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
2027-06-14 00:05:00 Earth 0.3714 AU 144.5 LD 13 km/s
2027-09-30 17:56:00 Earth 0.2823 AU 109.9 LD 10.8 km/s
2029-04-20 22:25:00 Venus 0.0674 AU 26.2 LD 18.6 km/s
2032-10-02 09:19:00 Earth 0.3438 AU 133.8 LD 23.4 km/s
2032-12-15 23:40:00 Mercury 0.0883 AU 34.4 LD 21.8 km/s
2032-12-15 23:40:00 Merc 0.0883 AU 34.4 LD 21.8 km/s
2034-06-05 02:05:00 Earth 0.386 AU 150.2 LD 14.1 km/s
2034-10-10 05:41:00 Earth 0.2381 AU 92.7 LD 10.8 km/s
2036-08-03 02:28:00 Earth 0.4625 AU 180.0 LD 20.7 km/s
2039-09-30 14:47:00 Earth 0.3988 AU 155.2 LD 25 km/s

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

Sources