2020 QX4 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.7 AU to 1.32 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 369.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 September 2024.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.988 AU
- True anomaly
- 255.69°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.56 AU
- As of
- 3 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 19h 23m 49s
- Declination
- +01° 45′ 42″
- Constellation
- Aquila
- Distance from Earth
- 0.56 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 73.09° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 1.007 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3058
- Inclination
- 23.03°
- Orbital period
- 369.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.699 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.315 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 337.82°
- Argument of periapsis
- 139.6°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 56.1 LD
- 0.1441 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.937
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 77
- Data arc
- 5.08 years
- First observed
- 4 August 2019
- Last observed
- 31 August 2024
- Residual RMS
- 0.7 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 1 September 2024
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 23.08
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 138 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-15 13:22 UTC close approach of 2020 QX4. Catalogue miss distance 144.2 LD · 5.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-12 to 2027-01-18, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-15 13:22:00 | Earth | 0.3706 AU | 144.2 LD | 15.6 km/s |
| 2027-08-16 21:44:00 | Earth | 0.3546 AU | 138.0 LD | 12.2 km/s |
| 2028-01-24 20:28:00 | Earth | 0.3464 AU | 134.8 LD | 16 km/s |
| 2028-08-10 21:27:00 | Earth | 0.3832 AU | 149.1 LD | 12.2 km/s |
| 2029-02-01 15:42:00 | Earth | 0.3208 AU | 124.9 LD | 16.2 km/s |
| 2029-08-05 11:09:00 | Earth | 0.409 AU | 159.2 LD | 12 km/s |
| 2030-02-10 03:02:00 | Earth | 0.2955 AU | 115.0 LD | 16.3 km/s |
| 2030-07-30 10:09:00 | Earth | 0.4322 AU | 168.2 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2031-02-18 10:52:00 | Earth | 0.2716 AU | 105.7 LD | 16.2 km/s |
| 2031-07-23 13:38:00 | Earth | 0.4519 AU | 175.9 LD | 11.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB