2020 RD4 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.67 AU to 1.35 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 371.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 28 July 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.938 AU
- True anomaly
- 262.29°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.632 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 16m 34s
- Declination
- -21° 30′ 27″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 0.63 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 66.24° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 1.011 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3388
- Inclination
- 2.6°
- Orbital period
- 371.6 days
- Perihelion
- 0.669 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.354 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 352.14°
- Argument of periapsis
- 108.82°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 0.0 LD
- 0.0001 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.973
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 27
- Data arc
- 2 days
- First observed
- 12 September 2020
- Last observed
- 14 September 2020
- Residual RMS
- 0.3 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 28 July 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 29.7
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 29 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-04-29 10:50 UTC close approach of 2020 RD4. Catalogue miss distance 70.8 LD · 2.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-04-26 to 2031-05-02, 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2031-04-29 10:50:00 | Earth | 0.182 AU | 70.8 LD | 5.9 km/s |
| 2032-04-16 18:33:00 | Earth | 0.0831 AU | 32.3 LD | 7.6 km/s |
| 2033-03-05 05:50:00 | Venus | 0.0774 AU | 30.1 LD | 12 km/s |
| 2033-04-20 01:37:00 | Earth | 0.0369 AU | 14.3 LD | 10.6 km/s |
| 2034-04-25 01:00:00 | Earth | 0.1415 AU | 55.1 LD | 14 km/s |
| 2036-03-08 09:05:00 | Venus | 0.0454 AU | 17.7 LD | 7.4 km/s |
| 2039-02-27 17:27:00 | Venus | 0.0472 AU | 18.4 LD | 9.1 km/s |
| 2059-08-21 16:49:00 | Venus | 0.1264 AU | 49.2 LD | 14.5 km/s |
| 2062-08-29 13:35:00 | Venus | 0.0342 AU | 13.3 LD | 7.6 km/s |
| 2065-08-11 16:56:00 | Venus | 0.0472 AU | 18.4 LD | 9.1 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