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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 YA1

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(2020 YA1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.865 AU
True anomaly
53.91°
Distance from Earth
1.512 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 YA1 — 0.865 AU from the Sun 2020 YA1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 YA1 is 1.512 AU from Earth today (12.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 00m 31s
Declination
-20° 37′ 44″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33° — 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.

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
0.933 AU
Eccentricity
0.111
Inclination
2.38°
Orbital period
329.1 days
Perihelion
0.829 AU
Aphelion
1.036 AU
Longitude of ascending node
281.96°
Argument of periapsis
303.98°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.2 LD
0.0005 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.419

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
65
Data arc
16 days
First observed
17 December 2020
Last observed
2 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.75

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 63 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 YA1 at 2028-10-05 03:55 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-05 03:55 UTC close approach of 2020 YA1. Catalogue miss distance 186.2 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-02 to 2028-10-08, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 186.2 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km 2028-10-05 03:55 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-05 03:55 UTC close approach of 2020 YA1. Catalogue miss distance 186.2 LD · 7.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-02 to 2028-10-08, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-10-05 03:55:00 Earth 0.4784 AU 186.2 LD 17.7 km/s
2029-07-28 20:12:00 Earth 0.1249 AU 48.6 LD 2.9 km/s
2029-12-12 20:02:00 Earth 0.0417 AU 16.2 LD 2.6 km/s
2033-12-09 10:30:00 Venus 0.1138 AU 44.3 LD 3.3 km/s
2038-09-20 13:57:00 Earth 0.0462 AU 18.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2039-03-29 10:59:00 Earth 0.1576 AU 61.3 LD 4 km/s
2039-12-25 23:29:00 Earth 0.3878 AU 150.9 LD 15.2 km/s
2047-09-27 07:00:00 Earth 0.2981 AU 116.0 LD 12.2 km/s
2048-06-07 12:29:00 Earth 0.1715 AU 66.8 LD 4.7 km/s
2049-01-04 10:49:00 Earth 0.1051 AU 40.9 LD 6.5 km/s

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

Sources