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Asteroid Near-Earth

18736

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18736 (1998 NU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.824 AU
True anomaly
92.62°
Distance from Earth
2.537 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 18736 — 1.824 AU from the Sun 18736
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 18736 is 2.537 AU from Earth today (21.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 27m 59s
Declination
-20° 18′ 38″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
2.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
35.62° — 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
2.35 AU
Eccentricity
0.4911
Inclination
2.81°
Orbital period
3.6 years
Perihelion
1.196 AU
Aphelion
3.504 AU
Longitude of ascending node
297.42°
Argument of periapsis
222.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 81.1 LD
0.2083 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.384

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,110
Data arc
71.99 years
First observed
25 May 1954
Last observed
23 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 September 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
2.48 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.98
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sk

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Spacewatch
Discovery date
2 July 1998
Discovery site
Kitt Peak

Also known as 1998 NU · 1999 TB323 · 1999 TT52 · 1999 US60

Amor Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2046-06-19 05:20:00 Juptr 1.8006 AU 700.8 LD 2.4 km/s
2048-04-18 13:56:00 Mars 0.0846 AU 32.9 LD 11.8 km/s
2056-11-07 08:28:00 Juptr 1.9998 AU 778.3 LD 2.2 km/s
2093-03-11 16:14:00 Juptr 1.5091 AU 587.3 LD 2.3 km/s
2129-06-19 11:04:00 Juptr 1.7431 AU 678.3 LD 2.4 km/s
2145-04-10 02:39:00 Mars 0.0433 AU 16.8 LD 12.2 km/s
2176-03-17 12:46:00 Juptr 1.5269 AU 594.2 LD 2.3 km/s

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

Sources