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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 VC7

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(2018 VC7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.006 AU
True anomaly
149.2°
Distance from Earth
0.778 AU
As of
20 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 VC7 — 1.006 AU from the Sun 2018 VC7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 VC7 is 0.778 AU from Earth today (6.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 23m 06s
Declination
-24° 21′ 02″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.78 AU
Elongation from the Sun
67.79° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.873 AU
Eccentricity
0.19
Inclination
0.8°
Orbital period
297.9 days
Perihelion
0.707 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
60.23°
Argument of periapsis
132.14°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.9 LD
0.0024 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.765

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
28
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
10 November 2018
Last observed
11 November 2018
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.4

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 62 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 VC7 at 2027-05-26 08:35 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-26 08:35 UTC close approach of 2018 VC7. Catalogue miss distance 101.7 LD · 3.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-23 to 2027-05-29, 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 101.7 LD · 3.91 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-26 08:35 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-26 08:35 UTC close approach of 2018 VC7. Catalogue miss distance 101.7 LD · 3.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-23 to 2027-05-29, 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
2027-05-26 08:35:00 Earth 0.2614 AU 101.7 LD 7 km/s
2027-11-16 13:27:00 Earth 0.1845 AU 71.8 LD 10.1 km/s
2028-12-31 12:22:00 Venus 0.0202 AU 7.9 LD 4.9 km/s
2031-09-01 00:52:00 Earth 0.1585 AU 61.7 LD 9.3 km/s
2032-02-21 08:47:00 Earth 0.2558 AU 99.6 LD 7.1 km/s
2036-03-26 00:00:00 Venus 0.0977 AU 38.0 LD 8.8 km/s
2036-11-13 16:35:00 Earth 0.2524 AU 98.2 LD 12.3 km/s
2040-08-31 22:00:00 Earth 0.0455 AU 17.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2045-04-24 22:55:00 Earth 0.2887 AU 112.3 LD 8.5 km/s
2045-11-09 14:41:00 Earth 0.3732 AU 145.3 LD 16.1 km/s

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

Sources