2018 AN2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.85 AU to 1.16 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 366.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.154 AU
- True anomaly
- 190.31°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.415 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
- 18h 34m 22s
- Declination
- +84° 21′ 02″
- Constellation
- Draco
- Distance from Earth
- 0.41 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 102.33° — 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
- 1.003 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1543
- Inclination
- 22.07°
- Orbital period
- 366.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.848 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.157 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 290.03°
- Argument of periapsis
- 284.14°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 12.0 LD
- 0.0308 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.994
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 48
- Data arc
- 7 days
- First observed
- 12 January 2018
- Last observed
- 19 January 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.53 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.8
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 93 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-11 03:10 UTC close approach of 2018 AN2. Catalogue miss distance 80.3 LD · 3.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-08 to 2027-01-14, 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 north of the ecliptic. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-11 03:10:00 | Earth | 0.2064 AU | 80.3 LD | 11.5 km/s |
| 2028-01-10 15:46:00 | Earth | 0.2289 AU | 89.1 LD | 11.5 km/s |
| 2029-01-08 20:49:00 | Earth | 0.2512 AU | 97.8 LD | 11.6 km/s |
| 2030-01-07 20:28:00 | Earth | 0.2735 AU | 106.5 LD | 11.7 km/s |
| 2031-01-06 17:39:00 | Earth | 0.2958 AU | 115.1 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2032-01-05 04:56:00 | Earth | 0.3178 AU | 123.7 LD | 12 km/s |
| 2032-06-22 04:31:00 | Earth | 0.2579 AU | 100.4 LD | 12 km/s |
| 2033-01-02 07:41:00 | Earth | 0.3393 AU | 132.1 LD | 12.1 km/s |
| 2033-06-25 08:29:00 | Earth | 0.2364 AU | 92.0 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2033-12-31 06:12:00 | Earth | 0.3606 AU | 140.3 LD | 12.2 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