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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2018 JK3

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(2018 JK3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.026 AU
True anomaly
239.32°
Distance from Earth
1.908 AU
As of
22 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 JK3 — 1.026 AU from the Sun 2018 JK3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 JK3 is 1.908 AU from Earth today (15.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 05m 21s
Declination
-19° 17′ 48″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.47° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.954 AU
Eccentricity
0.2782
Inclination
43.23°
Orbital period
340.4 days
Perihelion
0.689 AU
Aphelion
1.219 AU
Longitude of ascending node
64.58°
Argument of periapsis
305.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.6 LD
0.0323 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.053

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
128
Data arc
16 days
First observed
15 May 2018
Last observed
31 May 2018
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.69

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 29 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 JK3 at 2028-12-30 15:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-12-30 15:45 UTC close approach of 2018 JK3. Catalogue miss distance 192.2 LD · 7.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-12-27 to 2029-01-02, 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 192.2 LD · 7.39 × 10⁷ km 2028-12-30 15:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-12-30 15:45 UTC close approach of 2018 JK3. Catalogue miss distance 192.2 LD · 7.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-12-27 to 2029-01-02, 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
2028-12-30 15:45:00 Earth 0.4939 AU 192.2 LD 32.5 km/s
2029-12-05 12:31:00 Earth 0.2281 AU 88.8 LD 26.7 km/s
2031-05-31 16:44:00 Earth 0.2909 AU 113.2 LD 20.6 km/s
2031-10-13 15:25:00 Venus 0.0908 AU 35.3 LD 24.9 km/s
2032-05-24 07:30:00 Earth 0.0899 AU 35.0 LD 23.2 km/s
2033-05-12 01:42:00 Earth 0.4619 AU 179.8 LD 30.5 km/s
2033-08-21 06:28:00 Venus 0.0512 AU 19.9 LD 26.4 km/s
2045-05-29 22:27:00 Earth 0.1672 AU 65.1 LD 20.9 km/s
2046-05-21 04:11:00 Earth 0.2128 AU 82.8 LD 25.3 km/s
2058-05-31 15:26:00 Earth 0.4158 AU 161.8 LD 21 km/s

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

Sources