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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 RS9

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(2020 RS9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.16 AU
True anomaly
220.45°
Distance from Earth
0.736 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 RS9 — 1.16 AU from the Sun 2020 RS9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 RS9 is 0.736 AU from Earth today (6.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 15m 37s
Declination
-14° 34′ 14″
Constellation
Puppis
Distance from Earth
0.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
82.74° — 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.

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
0.973 AU
Eccentricity
0.3378
Inclination
20.55°
Orbital period
350.7 days
Perihelion
0.644 AU
Aphelion
1.302 AU
Longitude of ascending node
162.38°
Argument of periapsis
42.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 37.1 LD
0.0953 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.109

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
16
Data arc
8 days
First observed
9 September 2020
Last observed
17 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.78 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 83 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 RS9 at 2042-09-01 04:35 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-09-01 04:35 UTC close approach of 2020 RS9. Catalogue miss distance 135.9 LD · 5.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-08-29 to 2042-09-04, 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 135.9 LD · 5.22 × 10⁷ km 2042-09-01 04:35 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-09-01 04:35 UTC close approach of 2020 RS9. Catalogue miss distance 135.9 LD · 5.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-08-29 to 2042-09-04, 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
2027-01-22 22:59:00 Venus 0.0756 AU 29.4 LD 15.2 km/s
2042-06-02 03:51:00 Venus 0.0515 AU 20.0 LD 16.6 km/s
2042-09-01 04:35:00 Earth 0.3492 AU 135.9 LD 22.2 km/s
2043-08-26 09:11:00 Earth 0.1427 AU 55.5 LD 16.1 km/s
2044-08-28 00:45:00 Earth 0.1466 AU 57.0 LD 12.2 km/s
2045-09-13 20:32:00 Earth 0.2998 AU 116.7 LD 11.6 km/s
2050-01-04 12:07:00 Earth 0.3436 AU 133.7 LD 18.9 km/s
2066-09-01 19:21:00 Earth 0.3647 AU 141.9 LD 22.7 km/s
2067-08-26 17:24:00 Earth 0.1561 AU 60.8 LD 16.5 km/s
2068-08-27 07:05:00 Earth 0.134 AU 52.1 LD 12.4 km/s

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

Sources