Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 UA3

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2020 UA3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.091 AU
True anomaly
205.82°
Distance from Earth
0.307 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 UA3 — 1.091 AU from the Sun 2020 UA3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 UA3 is 0.307 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 41m 58s
Declination
-17° 46′ 39″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
0.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
99.85° — 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.

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
0.908 AU
Eccentricity
0.2391
Inclination
0.65°
Orbital period
315.9 days
Perihelion
0.691 AU
Aphelion
1.125 AU
Longitude of ascending node
0.87°
Argument of periapsis
165.55°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.9 LD
0.0074 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.543

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
41
Data arc
20 days
First observed
15 October 2020
Last observed
4 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 UA3 at 2027-01-26 19:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-26 19:47 UTC close approach of 2020 UA3. Catalogue miss distance 103.0 LD · 3.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-23 to 2027-01-29, 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. Sun 103.0 LD · 3.96 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-26 19:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-26 19:47 UTC close approach of 2020 UA3. Catalogue miss distance 103.0 LD · 3.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-23 to 2027-01-29, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-01-26 19:47:00 Earth 0.2647 AU 103.0 LD 8 km/s
2027-10-19 20:38:00 Earth 0.4795 AU 186.6 LD 21.2 km/s
2028-10-17 21:08:00 Venus 0.086 AU 33.5 LD 10 km/s
2032-07-23 09:50:00 Earth 0.191 AU 74.3 LD 12.1 km/s
2033-02-16 15:41:00 Venus 0.0283 AU 11.0 LD 5.5 km/s
2033-03-13 00:59:00 Earth 0.3027 AU 117.8 LD 9.9 km/s
2033-10-31 09:08:00 Earth 0.1912 AU 74.4 LD 12.2 km/s
2037-07-21 14:47:00 Venus 0.042 AU 16.3 LD 4.9 km/s
2038-08-03 19:53:00 Earth 0.4673 AU 181.8 LD 20.6 km/s
2039-04-27 05:51:00 Earth 0.2672 AU 104.0 LD 7.7 km/s

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

Sources