Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 AU11

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2018 AU11)

2018 AU11 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.62 AU to 1.33 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 352.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.82 AU
True anomaly
275.01°
Distance from Earth
1.508 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 AU11 — 0.82 AU from the Sun 2018 AU11
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 AU11 is 1.508 AU from Earth today (12.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 10m 27s
Declination
+01° 56′ 35″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.2° — 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
0.977 AU
Eccentricity
0.3653
Inclination
10.36°
Orbital period
352.7 days
Perihelion
0.62 AU
Aphelion
1.334 AU
Longitude of ascending node
114.01°
Argument of periapsis
114.78°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.6 LD
0.0066 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.12

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
32
Data arc
6 days
First observed
10 January 2018
Last observed
16 January 2018
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 94 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 AU11 at 2037-09-21 07:56 UTC Sun 169.6 LD · 6.52 × 10⁷ km 2037-09-21 07:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-09-21 07:56 UTC close approach of 2018 AU11. Catalogue miss distance 169.6 LD · 6.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-09-18 to 2037-09-24, 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. 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
2030-09-16 15:01:00 Venus 0.1442 AU 56.1 LD 18 km/s
2032-10-24 21:23:00 Venus 0.1089 AU 42.4 LD 16.8 km/s
2037-09-21 07:56:00 Earth 0.4357 AU 169.6 LD 24.5 km/s
2038-09-11 17:55:00 Earth 0.2491 AU 96.9 LD 18.3 km/s
2039-07-29 21:57:00 Venus 0.0575 AU 22.4 LD 14.3 km/s
2039-08-31 20:10:00 Earth 0.1323 AU 51.5 LD 12.3 km/s
2042-11-09 23:13:00 Earth 0.3931 AU 153.0 LD 9.7 km/s
2043-12-01 15:22:00 Earth 0.3657 AU 142.3 LD 9.7 km/s
2046-01-17 07:41:00 Earth 0.1063 AU 41.4 LD 9.7 km/s
2046-05-04 05:46:00 Venus 0.0384 AU 14.9 LD 13.3 km/s

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

Sources