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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 JF2

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(2018 JF2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.019 AU
True anomaly
198.03°
Distance from Earth
1.865 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 JF2 — 1.019 AU from the Sun 2018 JF2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 JF2 is 1.865 AU from Earth today (15.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 57m 44s
Declination
-14° 31′ 29″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.51° — 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
0.786 AU
Eccentricity
0.3274
Inclination
13.38°
Orbital period
254.6 days
Perihelion
0.529 AU
Aphelion
1.044 AU
Longitude of ascending node
230.44°
Argument of periapsis
179.81°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.1 LD
0.0336 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.333

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
134
Data arc
24 days
First observed
9 May 2018
Last observed
2 June 2018
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 103 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 JF2 at 2027-04-21 09:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-21 09:42 UTC close approach of 2018 JF2. Catalogue miss distance 112.3 LD · 4.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-18 to 2027-04-24, 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. 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 112.3 LD · 4.32 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-21 09:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-21 09:42 UTC close approach of 2018 JF2. Catalogue miss distance 112.3 LD · 4.32 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-18 to 2027-04-24, 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. 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
2027-04-21 09:42:00 Earth 0.2885 AU 112.3 LD 15.3 km/s
2027-09-13 11:52:00 Earth 0.4297 AU 167.2 LD 13.1 km/s
2029-11-10 16:46:00 Earth 0.4614 AU 179.6 LD 19.2 km/s
2032-01-08 22:14:00 Earth 0.4129 AU 160.7 LD 13.1 km/s
2032-05-29 08:45:00 Earth 0.2454 AU 95.5 LD 14.2 km/s
2034-04-22 05:13:00 Earth 0.1417 AU 55.1 LD 10.6 km/s
2036-10-23 23:39:00 Earth 0.4611 AU 179.5 LD 18.6 km/s
2038-12-19 08:26:00 Earth 0.4387 AU 170.7 LD 16.5 km/s
2039-05-26 19:32:00 Earth 0.3987 AU 155.2 LD 19.3 km/s
2041-05-06 08:49:00 Earth 0.0427 AU 16.6 LD 8.4 km/s

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

Sources