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Asteroid Near-Earth

2014 MA18

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(2014 MA18)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.037 AU
True anomaly
140.48°
Distance from Earth
1.718 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 2014 MA18 — 1.037 AU from the Sun 2014 MA18
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2014 MA18 is 1.718 AU from Earth today (14.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 53m 16s
Declination
-20° 36′ 09″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.04° — 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
0.876 AU
Eccentricity
0.2984
Inclination
6.16°
Orbital period
299.6 days
Perihelion
0.615 AU
Aphelion
1.138 AU
Longitude of ascending node
86.8°
Argument of periapsis
44.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.5 LD
0.0012 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.718

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
16
Data arc
9 days
First observed
24 June 2014
Last observed
3 July 2014
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 155 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2014 MA18 at 2028-07-29 14:53 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-07-29 14:53 UTC close approach of 2014 MA18. Catalogue miss distance 56.5 LD · 2.17 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-26 to 2028-08-01, 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 56.5 LD · 2.17 × 10⁷ km 2028-07-29 14:53 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-07-29 14:53 UTC close approach of 2014 MA18. Catalogue miss distance 56.5 LD · 2.17 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-26 to 2028-08-01, 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
2028-02-02 00:39:00 Venus 0.0617 AU 24.0 LD 12.1 km/s
2028-07-29 14:53:00 Earth 0.1453 AU 56.5 LD 6.3 km/s
2028-11-16 23:48:00 Earth 0.2586 AU 100.7 LD 7 km/s
2030-07-18 18:04:00 Venus 0.0787 AU 30.6 LD 13 km/s
2032-06-27 04:22:00 Earth 0.3392 AU 132.0 LD 18.1 km/s
2033-01-01 02:54:00 Venus 0.1049 AU 40.8 LD 14.3 km/s
2033-02-07 11:55:00 Earth 0.3767 AU 146.6 LD 13.3 km/s
2033-09-15 23:20:00 Earth 0.2912 AU 113.3 LD 15.9 km/s
2035-06-17 05:20:00 Venus 0.1393 AU 54.2 LD 16 km/s
2037-07-18 20:22:00 Earth 0.1315 AU 51.2 LD 6.2 km/s

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

Sources