2018 TA2 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.81 AU to 1.15 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 353.3 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 16 August 2022.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.823 AU
- True anomaly
- 27.34°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.597 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 24m 59s
- Declination
- -01° 08′ 38″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.6 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 25.6° — 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.
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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
- 0.978 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1729
- Inclination
- 5.29°
- Orbital period
- 353.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.809 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.147 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 6.35°
- Argument of periapsis
- 120.34°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 7.4 LD
- 0.0191 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.17
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).
- Observations used
- 29
- Data arc
- 10 days
- First observed
- 30 September 2018
- Last observed
- 10 October 2018
- Residual RMS
- 0.52 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 16 August 2022
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 27.1
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 73 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-06-04 11:30 UTC close approach of 2018 TA2. Catalogue miss distance 173.9 LD · 6.68 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-06-01 to 2043-06-07, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2043-06-04 11:30:00 | Earth | 0.4468 AU | 173.9 LD | 17.9 km/s |
| 2044-05-24 18:39:00 | Earth | 0.2534 AU | 98.6 LD | 12.1 km/s |
| 2045-05-12 17:58:00 | Earth | 0.0804 AU | 31.3 LD | 6.4 km/s |
| 2046-03-25 18:52:00 | Earth | 0.1365 AU | 53.1 LD | 4.8 km/s |
| 2046-07-03 07:48:00 | Earth | 0.1517 AU | 59.1 LD | 3.7 km/s |
| 2047-02-02 08:04:00 | Earth | 0.1874 AU | 72.9 LD | 5.9 km/s |
| 2047-09-03 19:44:00 | Earth | 0.1277 AU | 49.7 LD | 4.2 km/s |
| 2047-12-06 20:38:00 | Earth | 0.1599 AU | 62.2 LD | 3.9 km/s |
| 2048-10-10 04:09:00 | Earth | 0.0414 AU | 16.1 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2049-10-03 20:02:00 | Earth | 0.2469 AU | 96.1 LD | 12.3 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB