Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 HU

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2018 HU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.682 AU
True anomaly
275.81°
Distance from Earth
0.719 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 HU — 0.682 AU from the Sun 2018 HU
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 HU is 0.719 AU from Earth today (6.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 10m 42s
Declination
-29° 28′ 16″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.71 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.68° — 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
0.815 AU
Eccentricity
0.3639
Inclination
10.72°
Orbital period
268.6 days
Perihelion
0.518 AU
Aphelion
1.111 AU
Longitude of ascending node
33.28°
Argument of periapsis
28.29°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.8 LD
0.0201 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.112

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
135
Data arc
14 days
First observed
20 April 2018
Last observed
4 May 2018
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 132 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 HU at 2026-11-14 05:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-14 05:15 UTC close approach of 2018 HU. Catalogue miss distance 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-11 to 2026-11-17, 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. Sun 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-14 05:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-14 05:15 UTC close approach of 2018 HU. Catalogue miss distance 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-11 to 2026-11-17, 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
2026-11-14 05:15:00 Earth 0.4706 AU 183.2 LD 19.2 km/s
2029-04-17 21:01:00 Earth 0.1681 AU 65.4 LD 14.4 km/s
2029-10-08 01:34:00 Earth 0.432 AU 168.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2032-05-08 00:42:00 Earth 0.1157 AU 45.0 LD 8.2 km/s
2035-01-09 08:39:00 Earth 0.4366 AU 169.9 LD 14.2 km/s
2035-06-24 07:17:00 Earth 0.2019 AU 78.6 LD 11.9 km/s
2037-12-01 14:04:00 Earth 0.4732 AU 184.2 LD 19 km/s
2038-06-14 18:04:00 Earth 0.4767 AU 185.5 LD 22.7 km/s
2040-04-23 02:10:00 Earth 0.3365 AU 131.0 LD 19.7 km/s
2040-10-26 16:20:00 Earth 0.4571 AU 177.9 LD 18.2 km/s

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

Sources