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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 UA

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(2020 UA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.872 AU
True anomaly
108.91°
Distance from Earth
1.551 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 UA — 0.872 AU from the Sun 2020 UA
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 UA is 1.551 AU from Earth today (12.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 44m 26s
Declination
-20° 49′ 17″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.49° — 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
0.858 AU
Eccentricity
0.2726
Inclination
1.92°
Orbital period
290.5 days
Perihelion
0.624 AU
Aphelion
1.092 AU
Longitude of ascending node
27.49°
Argument of periapsis
137.79°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.0 LD
0 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.843

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
68
Data arc
4 days
First observed
16 October 2020
Last observed
20 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.04 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.44

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 50 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 UA at 2039-07-30 20:19 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-07-30 20:19 UTC close approach of 2020 UA. Catalogue miss distance 30.3 LD · 1.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-07-27 to 2039-08-02, 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. 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 30.3 LD · 1.16 × 10⁷ km 2039-07-30 20:19 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-07-30 20:19 UTC close approach of 2020 UA. Catalogue miss distance 30.3 LD · 1.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-07-27 to 2039-08-02, 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. 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
2033-09-10 11:54:00 Venus 0.0101 AU 3.9 LD 9 km/s
2039-04-03 01:50:00 Venus 0.0486 AU 18.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2039-07-30 20:19:00 Earth 0.0779 AU 30.3 LD 8.7 km/s
2043-08-31 16:30:00 Earth 0.0822 AU 32.0 LD 5.2 km/s
2044-11-16 07:31:00 Venus 0.0979 AU 38.1 LD 7.4 km/s
2047-10-21 11:35:00 Earth 0.0047 AU 1.8 LD 6.7 km/s
2047-10-21 21:35:00 Moon 0.0053 AU 2.0 LD 6.9 km/s
2072-08-01 21:06:00 Earth 0.1111 AU 43.2 LD 9.8 km/s

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

Sources