2020 YW is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.36 AU to 1.66 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 371 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 December 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.586 AU
- True anomaly
- 192.94°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.656 AU
- As of
- 3 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
- 04h 48m 13s
- Declination
- +15° 10′ 59″
- Constellation
- Orion
- Distance from Earth
- 0.65 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 148.23° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.
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.
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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
- 1.01 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.6408
- Inclination
- 10.28°
- Orbital period
- 371 days
- Perihelion
- 0.363 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.658 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 70.24°
- Argument of periapsis
- 150.22°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 25.5 LD
- 0.0655 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.815
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 97
- Data arc
- 4.03 years
- First observed
- 3 December 2019
- Last observed
- 15 December 2023
- Residual RMS
- 0.43 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 17 December 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 23.03
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 289 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-06 17:20 UTC close approach of 2020 YW. Catalogue miss distance 191.3 LD · 7.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-03 to 2026-12-09, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-06 17:20:00 | Earth | 0.4916 AU | 191.3 LD | 15.1 km/s |
| 2027-04-23 21:16:00 | Venus | 0.1029 AU | 40.1 LD | 21.4 km/s |
| 2031-04-18 01:10:00 | Merc | 0.093 AU | 36.2 LD | 23 km/s |
| 2031-04-18 01:10:00 | Mercury | 0.093 AU | 36.2 LD | 23 km/s |
| 2036-01-07 22:14:00 | Mars | 0.0919 AU | 35.7 LD | 13.3 km/s |
| 2036-05-25 16:34:00 | Mercury | 0.0144 AU | 5.6 LD | 29.7 km/s |
| 2036-05-25 16:34:00 | Merc | 0.0144 AU | 5.6 LD | 29.7 km/s |
| 2040-05-31 20:15:00 | Merc | 0.0639 AU | 24.9 LD | 22.7 km/s |
| 2040-05-31 20:15:00 | Mercury | 0.0639 AU | 24.9 LD | 22.7 km/s |
| 2043-07-20 09:42:00 | Earth | 0.494 AU | 192.2 LD | 15.9 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