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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 QR4

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(2020 QR4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.115 AU
True anomaly
182.15°
Distance from Earth
1.28 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 QR4 — 1.115 AU from the Sun 2020 QR4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 QR4 is 1.28 AU from Earth today (10.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 31m 10s
Declination
-27° 44′ 04″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.95° — 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
0.846 AU
Eccentricity
0.3181
Inclination
17.98°
Orbital period
284.1 days
Perihelion
0.577 AU
Aphelion
1.115 AU
Longitude of ascending node
328.32°
Argument of periapsis
160.74°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 25.5 LD
0.0656 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.879

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
19
Data arc
12 days
First observed
14 August 2020
Last observed
26 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 78 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 QR4 at 2027-04-08 15:37 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-08 15:37 UTC close approach of 2020 QR4. Catalogue miss distance 145.1 LD · 5.58 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-05 to 2027-04-11, 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. 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 145.1 LD · 5.58 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-08 15:37 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-08 15:37 UTC close approach of 2020 QR4. Catalogue miss distance 145.1 LD · 5.58 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-05 to 2027-04-11, 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. 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
2027-04-08 15:37:00 Earth 0.3727 AU 145.1 LD 13.1 km/s
2027-08-23 21:42:00 Earth 0.079 AU 30.7 LD 10.3 km/s
2030-07-09 12:23:00 Earth 0.4453 AU 173.3 LD 18.6 km/s
2031-01-24 06:05:00 Earth 0.4187 AU 162.9 LD 18.2 km/s
2034-08-22 17:16:00 Earth 0.0836 AU 32.5 LD 10.2 km/s
2037-07-09 10:38:00 Earth 0.4555 AU 177.3 LD 19 km/s
2044-07-09 16:35:00 Earth 0.4722 AU 183.8 LD 19.6 km/s
2051-07-11 01:13:00 Earth 0.494 AU 192.3 LD 20.4 km/s
2052-08-24 23:37:00 Earth 0.4802 AU 186.9 LD 23.1 km/s
2059-08-26 21:53:00 Earth 0.4466 AU 173.8 LD 22.1 km/s

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

Sources