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Asteroid Near-Earth

310842

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310842 (2003 AK18)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.06 AU
True anomaly
140.1°
Distance from Earth
1.3 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 310842 — 1.06 AU from the Sun 310842
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 310842 is 1.3 AU from Earth today (10.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 27m 52s
Declination
+11° 23′ 26″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.3 AU
Elongation from the Sun
53.08° — 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
0.877 AU
Eccentricity
0.3843
Inclination
7.4°
Orbital period
300 days
Perihelion
0.54 AU
Aphelion
1.214 AU
Longitude of ascending node
301.53°
Argument of periapsis
23.94°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 21.9 LD
0.0564 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.685

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
886
Data arc
23.13 years
First observed
7 January 2003
Last observed
23 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 June 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
5.33 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.79

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
7 January 2003
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2003 AK18

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 88 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 310842 at 2031-03-21 17:52 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-21 17:52 UTC close approach of 310842. Catalogue miss distance 69.8 LD · 2.68 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-18 to 2031-03-24, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 69.8 LD · 2.68 × 10⁷ km 2031-03-21 17:52 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-21 17:52 UTC close approach of 310842. Catalogue miss distance 69.8 LD · 2.68 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-18 to 2031-03-24, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. 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
2031-03-21 17:52:00 Earth 0.1793 AU 69.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2034-12-29 20:18:00 Earth 0.0718 AU 27.9 LD 10.3 km/s
2043-12-31 12:00:00 Earth 0.1772 AU 68.9 LD 16.7 km/s
2045-04-03 08:39:00 Earth 0.1329 AU 51.7 LD 12.7 km/s
2049-01-21 09:35:00 Earth 0.1948 AU 75.8 LD 9.2 km/s
2054-03-19 11:43:00 Earth 0.1859 AU 72.4 LD 8.7 km/s
2057-12-29 05:22:00 Earth 0.0644 AU 25.0 LD 10.7 km/s
2066-12-31 11:58:00 Earth 0.1786 AU 69.5 LD 16.7 km/s
2068-04-03 05:02:00 Earth 0.1338 AU 52.1 LD 12.8 km/s
2072-01-24 03:09:00 Earth 0.1997 AU 77.7 LD 9.2 km/s

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

Sources