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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 ES3

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(2018 ES3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.978 AU
True anomaly
116.87°
Distance from Earth
0.978 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 ES3 — 0.978 AU from the Sun 2018 ES3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 ES3 is 0.978 AU from Earth today (8.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 31m 59s
Declination
+24° 27′ 24″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.98 AU
Elongation from the Sun
59.57° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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
0.925 AU
Eccentricity
0.244
Inclination
14.17°
Orbital period
325.1 days
Perihelion
0.7 AU
Aphelion
1.151 AU
Longitude of ascending node
351.79°
Argument of periapsis
337.9°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 41.2 LD
0.1057 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.416

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
29
Data arc
35 days
First observed
12 February 2018
Last observed
19 March 2018
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.64

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 162 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 ES3 at 2027-03-31 13:07 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-31 13:07 UTC close approach of 2018 ES3. Catalogue miss distance 150.2 LD · 5.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-28 to 2027-04-03, 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 150.2 LD · 5.77 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-31 13:07 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-31 13:07 UTC close approach of 2018 ES3. Catalogue miss distance 150.2 LD · 5.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-28 to 2027-04-03, 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
2027-03-31 13:07:00 Earth 0.3859 AU 150.2 LD 19.1 km/s
2031-01-24 07:53:00 Venus 0.1008 AU 39.2 LD 12.3 km/s
2033-01-03 00:46:00 Earth 0.4939 AU 192.2 LD 20.9 km/s
2033-10-16 02:53:00 Earth 0.2627 AU 102.3 LD 11 km/s
2034-02-18 04:24:00 Earth 0.2051 AU 79.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2034-07-15 04:29:00 Earth 0.3404 AU 132.5 LD 10.6 km/s
2035-04-02 15:43:00 Earth 0.3133 AU 121.9 LD 16.8 km/s
2041-10-31 01:48:00 Earth 0.2514 AU 97.8 LD 9.9 km/s
2042-02-04 20:24:00 Earth 0.2253 AU 87.7 LD 8.4 km/s
2042-07-28 23:47:00 Earth 0.3392 AU 132.0 LD 11.9 km/s

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

Sources