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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 XG

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(2020 XG)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.74 AU
True anomaly
282.47°
Distance from Earth
1.704 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 XG — 0.74 AU from the Sun 2020 XG
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 XG is 1.704 AU from Earth today (14.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 23m 59s
Declination
-14° 31′ 36″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.61° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.92 AU
Eccentricity
0.3636
Inclination
1.27°
Orbital period
322.4 days
Perihelion
0.586 AU
Aphelion
1.255 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.96°
Argument of periapsis
53.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.8 LD
0.002 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.438

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
33
Data arc
7 days
First observed
2 December 2020
Last observed
9 December 2020
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.14

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 57 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 XG at 2027-12-15 14:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-15 14:40 UTC close approach of 2020 XG. Catalogue miss distance 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-12 to 2027-12-18, 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 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km 2027-12-15 14:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-12-15 14:40 UTC close approach of 2020 XG. Catalogue miss distance 149.3 LD · 5.74 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-12-12 to 2027-12-18, 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
2027-12-15 14:40:00 Earth 0.3837 AU 149.3 LD 23.2 km/s
2028-10-05 12:19:00 Earth 0.3208 AU 124.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2029-01-05 15:32:00 Earth 0.2416 AU 94.0 LD 8.6 km/s
2029-07-09 23:15:00 Earth 0.4205 AU 163.6 LD 15.4 km/s
2030-03-25 18:16:00 Earth 0.0279 AU 10.9 LD 11.7 km/s
2032-02-28 20:53:00 Venus 0.1314 AU 51.2 LD 10.2 km/s
2035-12-02 12:47:00 Moon 0.0016 AU 0.6 LD 10.6 km/s
2035-12-02 19:38:00 Earth 0.003 AU 1.2 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources