2018 FM3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.92 AU to 1.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 372.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.046 AU
- True anomaly
- 244.73°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.298 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 16m 49s
- Declination
- -21° 03′ 46″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 1.3 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 52.26° — 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.
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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
- 1.014 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0899
- Inclination
- 4.56°
- Orbital period
- 372.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.923 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.105 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 181.69°
- Argument of periapsis
- 255.75°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 5.8 LD
- 0.0148 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.009
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).
- Observations used
- 47
- Data arc
- 16 days
- First observed
- 20 March 2018
- Last observed
- 5 April 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.37 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 27.2
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 37 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2062-08-21 19:54 UTC close approach of 2018 FM3. Catalogue miss distance 150.4 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2062-08-18 to 2062-08-24, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2062-08-21 19:54:00 | Earth | 0.3864 AU | 150.4 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2063-08-28 23:51:00 | Earth | 0.2623 AU | 102.1 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2064-09-04 11:25:00 | Earth | 0.1395 AU | 54.3 LD | 6.7 km/s |
| 2065-09-14 09:08:00 | Earth | 0.0257 AU | 10.0 LD | 3.7 km/s |
| 2066-10-05 07:46:00 | Earth | 0.0565 AU | 22.0 LD | 2.6 km/s |
| 2067-06-10 10:38:00 | Earth | 0.1182 AU | 46.0 LD | 2.3 km/s |
| 2069-03-13 01:00:00 | Earth | 0.0243 AU | 9.5 LD | 3 km/s |
| 2070-03-09 00:47:00 | Earth | 0.0616 AU | 24.0 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2071-03-11 00:02:00 | Earth | 0.1509 AU | 58.7 LD | 7.1 km/s |
| 2072-03-13 16:20:00 | Earth | 0.2471 AU | 96.2 LD | 9.8 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