Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 AY1

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2020 AY1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.074 AU
True anomaly
188.29°
Distance from Earth
1.856 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 2020 AY1 — 1.074 AU from the Sun 2020 AY1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 AY1 is 1.856 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 01m 47s
Declination
+00° 20′ 36″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.41° — 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
0.882 AU
Eccentricity
0.2222
Inclination
1.02°
Orbital period
302.4 days
Perihelion
0.686 AU
Aphelion
1.078 AU
Longitude of ascending node
31.62°
Argument of periapsis
294.85°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.5 LD
0.0064 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.705

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
151
Data arc
5.16 years
First observed
5 January 2020
Last observed
3 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 80 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 AY1 at 2030-04-01 12:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-04-01 12:47 UTC close approach of 2020 AY1. Catalogue miss distance 37.9 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-03-29 to 2030-04-04, 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 37.9 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km 2030-04-01 12:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-04-01 12:47 UTC close approach of 2020 AY1. Catalogue miss distance 37.9 LD · 1.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-03-29 to 2030-04-04, 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
2030-04-01 12:47:00 Earth 0.0974 AU 37.9 LD 9.1 km/s
2038-12-30 18:36:00 Earth 0.1618 AU 63.0 LD 11.1 km/s
2039-07-08 01:30:00 Venus 0.0954 AU 37.1 LD 10.9 km/s
2042-01-12 20:35:00 Venus 0.0372 AU 14.5 LD 5.1 km/s
2044-01-10 17:21:00 Earth 0.0577 AU 22.5 LD 4.7 km/s
2044-08-19 16:30:00 Venus 0.045 AU 17.5 LD 7.5 km/s
2049-03-14 14:58:00 Earth 0.0673 AU 26.2 LD 4.7 km/s
2054-04-01 14:58:00 Earth 0.0842 AU 32.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2061-01-15 02:01:00 Venus 0.1357 AU 52.8 LD 12.8 km/s
2063-07-18 00:45:00 Venus 0.0202 AU 7.9 LD 5.5 km/s

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

Sources