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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 YT

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(2020 YT)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.083 AU
True anomaly
192.32°
Distance from Earth
1.381 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 YT — 1.083 AU from the Sun 2020 YT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 YT is 1.381 AU from Earth today (11.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 17m 08s
Declination
+09° 24′ 10″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.21° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.801 AU
Eccentricity
0.3701
Inclination
5.58°
Orbital period
262 days
Perihelion
0.505 AU
Aphelion
1.098 AU
Longitude of ascending node
271.47°
Argument of periapsis
2.74°
Epoch · J2000
2459200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 19.9 LD
0.0511 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.219

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
25
Data arc
12 days
First observed
8 December 2020
Last observed
20 December 2020
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.51

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 52 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 YT at 2029-01-25 03:12 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-25 03:12 UTC close approach of 2020 YT. Catalogue miss distance 118.7 LD · 4.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-22 to 2029-01-28, 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 118.7 LD · 4.56 × 10⁷ km 2029-01-25 03:12 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-01-25 03:12 UTC close approach of 2020 YT. Catalogue miss distance 118.7 LD · 4.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-01-22 to 2029-01-28, 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
2029-01-25 03:12:00 Earth 0.3051 AU 118.7 LD 19.4 km/s
2030-11-22 01:05:00 Earth 0.1555 AU 60.5 LD 14.3 km/s
2034-01-29 19:13:00 Earth 0.1634 AU 63.6 LD 14.5 km/s
2035-11-26 14:36:00 Earth 0.2994 AU 116.5 LD 19.3 km/s
2108-01-26 03:23:00 Earth 0.3334 AU 129.7 LD 20.3 km/s
2109-11-22 14:41:00 Earth 0.1283 AU 49.9 LD 13.4 km/s
2113-01-30 01:56:00 Earth 0.1931 AU 75.1 LD 15.5 km/s
2114-11-26 12:42:00 Earth 0.2661 AU 103.6 LD 18.2 km/s
2115-05-25 09:24:00 Earth 0.4854 AU 188.9 LD 17.8 km/s
2118-01-31 16:22:00 Earth 0.0764 AU 29.7 LD 11 km/s

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

Sources