2020 UN3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.84 AU to 1.24 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 387.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 29 June 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.233 AU
- True anomaly
- 166.41°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.649 AU
- As of
- 4 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
- 18h 00m 30s
- Declination
- -31° 21′ 43″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 1.65 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 48.11° — 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.
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
- 1.04 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1937
- Inclination
- 10.66°
- Orbital period
- 387.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.838 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.241 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 41.56°
- Argument of periapsis
- 99.29°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 10.7 LD
- 0.0274 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.867
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 203
- Data arc
- 33 days
- First observed
- 20 October 2020
- Last observed
- 22 November 2020
- Residual RMS
- 0.4 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 29 June 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.43
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 58 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-11-03 07:08 UTC close approach of 2020 UN3. Catalogue miss distance 92.7 LD · 3.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-10-31 to 2037-11-06, 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2037-11-03 07:08:00 | Earth | 0.2381 AU | 92.7 LD | 13.7 km/s |
| 2038-11-03 15:40:00 | Earth | 0.1388 AU | 54.0 LD | 5.9 km/s |
| 2039-08-12 09:32:00 | Earth | 0.3073 AU | 119.6 LD | 5.4 km/s |
| 2040-05-02 17:25:00 | Earth | 0.0589 AU | 22.9 LD | 6.8 km/s |
| 2041-05-26 13:51:00 | Earth | 0.3125 AU | 121.6 LD | 15.5 km/s |
| 2055-11-06 09:43:00 | Earth | 0.1625 AU | 63.2 LD | 11.6 km/s |
| 2056-10-18 21:55:00 | Earth | 0.1983 AU | 77.2 LD | 5.9 km/s |
| 2057-01-16 22:44:00 | Earth | 0.2184 AU | 85.0 LD | 5 km/s |
| 2057-07-25 15:41:00 | Earth | 0.3012 AU | 117.2 LD | 5.2 km/s |
| 2058-05-09 00:10:00 | Earth | 0.0294 AU | 11.4 LD | 7.9 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