Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 RL

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2020 RL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.727 AU
True anomaly
47.22°
Distance from Earth
1.702 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 RL — 0.727 AU from the Sun 2020 RL
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 RL is 1.702 AU from Earth today (14.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 54m 25s
Declination
-17° 31′ 45″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.75° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.864 AU
Eccentricity
0.2048
Inclination
14.24°
Orbital period
293.3 days
Perihelion
0.687 AU
Aphelion
1.041 AU
Longitude of ascending node
337.06°
Argument of periapsis
195.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.8 LD
0.0201 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.795

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
28
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
5 September 2020
Last observed
6 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 147 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 RL at 2028-08-23 12:06 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-23 12:06 UTC close approach of 2020 RL. Catalogue miss distance 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-20 to 2028-08-26, 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 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km 2028-08-23 12:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-23 12:06 UTC close approach of 2020 RL. Catalogue miss distance 43.1 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-08-20 to 2028-08-26, 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
2028-08-23 12:06:00 Earth 0.1107 AU 43.1 LD 9.7 km/s
2029-01-20 06:14:00 Earth 0.2779 AU 108.1 LD 10.5 km/s
2030-09-15 10:50:00 Venus 0.0459 AU 17.8 LD 10.4 km/s
2032-08-22 19:33:00 Earth 0.2194 AU 85.4 LD 12.4 km/s
2033-02-06 20:49:00 Earth 0.2852 AU 111.0 LD 11.7 km/s
2036-08-24 19:34:00 Earth 0.3416 AU 132.9 LD 15.9 km/s
2037-02-24 06:45:00 Earth 0.297 AU 115.6 LD 12.4 km/s
2040-08-28 06:45:00 Earth 0.4666 AU 181.6 LD 19.6 km/s
2041-02-27 20:46:00 Venus 0.033 AU 12.8 LD 10.5 km/s
2041-03-13 17:45:00 Earth 0.3119 AU 121.4 LD 12.6 km/s

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

Sources