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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 TK

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(2020 TK)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.809 AU
True anomaly
33.83°
Distance from Earth
1.575 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 TK — 0.809 AU from the Sun 2020 TK
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 TK is 1.575 AU from Earth today (13.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 59m 12s
Declination
-31° 45′ 49″
Constellation
Centaurus
Distance from Earth
1.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.26° — 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
0.932 AU
Eccentricity
0.152
Inclination
29.51°
Orbital period
328.7 days
Perihelion
0.79 AU
Aphelion
1.074 AU
Longitude of ascending node
11.15°
Argument of periapsis
219.58°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 11.5 LD
0.0296 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.31

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
30
Data arc
5 days
First observed
5 October 2020
Last observed
10 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.8

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 17 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 TK at 2029-10-03 19:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-03 19:40 UTC close approach of 2020 TK. Catalogue miss distance 12.4 LD · 4.78 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-30 to 2029-10-06, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 12.4 LD · 4.78 × 10⁶ km 2029-10-03 19:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-03 19:40 UTC close approach of 2020 TK. Catalogue miss distance 12.4 LD · 4.78 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-30 to 2029-10-06, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-10-03 19:40:00 Earth 0.032 AU 12.4 LD 15.3 km/s
2111-10-05 03:23:00 Earth 0.0484 AU 18.8 LD 15 km/s
2120-10-04 13:06:00 Earth 0.0361 AU 14.1 LD 15.1 km/s
2121-04-06 09:13:00 Earth 0.1992 AU 77.5 LD 17.2 km/s
2122-02-16 03:59:00 Earth 0.4975 AU 193.6 LD 23.4 km/s
2123-01-20 02:50:00 Venus 0.1089 AU 42.4 LD 17.1 km/s
2129-10-04 19:49:00 Earth 0.0362 AU 14.1 LD 15.1 km/s
2200-10-07 14:13:00 Earth 0.1312 AU 51.1 LD 16.6 km/s

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

Sources