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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 NE

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(2018 NE)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.783 AU
True anomaly
355.31°
Distance from Earth
1.501 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 NE — 0.783 AU from the Sun 2018 NE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 NE is 1.501 AU from Earth today (12.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 05m 52s
Declination
-05° 51′ 38″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.23° — 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
0.971 AU
Eccentricity
0.1941
Inclination
9.32°
Orbital period
349.4 days
Perihelion
0.782 AU
Aphelion
1.159 AU
Longitude of ascending node
244.8°
Argument of periapsis
266.38°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 16.9 LD
0.0433 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.196

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
78
Data arc
871 days
First observed
22 June 2018
Last observed
9 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 114 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 NE at 2039-06-23 01:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-06-23 01:42 UTC close approach of 2018 NE. Catalogue miss distance 104.6 LD · 4.02 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-06-20 to 2039-06-26, 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 104.6 LD · 4.02 × 10⁷ km 2039-06-23 01:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-06-23 01:42 UTC close approach of 2018 NE. Catalogue miss distance 104.6 LD · 4.02 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-06-20 to 2039-06-26, 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
2032-06-19 15:29:00 Venus 0.1452 AU 56.5 LD 8 km/s
2039-06-23 01:42:00 Earth 0.2689 AU 104.6 LD 14.1 km/s
2040-06-07 11:07:00 Earth 0.0447 AU 17.4 LD 7.3 km/s
2041-01-31 01:18:00 Venus 0.1474 AU 57.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2041-04-06 10:58:00 Earth 0.22 AU 85.6 LD 6.1 km/s
2041-08-17 17:09:00 Earth 0.2288 AU 89.0 LD 4.6 km/s
2042-01-29 14:21:00 Earth 0.2368 AU 92.1 LD 6.5 km/s
2042-11-19 10:08:00 Earth 0.06 AU 23.3 LD 6.4 km/s
2043-11-03 13:22:00 Earth 0.2262 AU 88.0 LD 13.1 km/s
2044-10-20 21:30:00 Earth 0.4843 AU 188.5 LD 20.7 km/s

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

Sources