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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 JM2

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(2018 JM2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.667 AU
True anomaly
358.58°
Distance from Earth
0.673 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 JM2 — 0.667 AU from the Sun 2018 JM2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 JM2 is 0.673 AU from Earth today (5.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 57m 22s
Declination
-00° 27′ 11″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.86° — 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
0.86 AU
Eccentricity
0.224
Inclination
16.71°
Orbital period
291.1 days
Perihelion
0.667 AU
Aphelion
1.052 AU
Longitude of ascending node
226.64°
Argument of periapsis
203.81°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.6 LD
0.017 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.812

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
46
Data arc
10 days
First observed
8 May 2018
Last observed
18 May 2018
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.55

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 150 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 JM2 at 2030-01-31 22:32 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-01-31 22:32 UTC close approach of 2018 JM2. Catalogue miss distance 136.9 LD · 5.26 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-01-28 to 2030-02-03, 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 136.9 LD · 5.26 × 10⁷ km 2030-01-31 22:32 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-01-31 22:32 UTC close approach of 2018 JM2. Catalogue miss distance 136.9 LD · 5.26 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-01-28 to 2030-02-03, 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
2030-01-31 22:32:00 Earth 0.3519 AU 136.9 LD 7.1 km/s
2030-05-26 02:45:00 Earth 0.2108 AU 82.0 LD 9.9 km/s
2034-01-11 00:10:00 Earth 0.3587 AU 139.6 LD 10.6 km/s
2034-06-03 21:28:00 Earth 0.2855 AU 111.1 LD 11.3 km/s
2037-12-06 18:45:00 Venus 0.0689 AU 26.8 LD 13.7 km/s
2037-12-26 05:04:00 Earth 0.3533 AU 137.5 LD 12.4 km/s
2038-06-10 05:04:00 Earth 0.364 AU 141.7 LD 13.6 km/s
2041-12-12 21:11:00 Earth 0.3432 AU 133.6 LD 13.5 km/s
2042-06-12 07:48:00 Earth 0.4435 AU 172.6 LD 16.2 km/s
2045-11-30 09:09:00 Earth 0.3315 AU 129.0 LD 14 km/s

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

Sources