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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 AO2

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(2020 AO2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.338 AU
True anomaly
181.47°
Distance from Earth
0.836 AU
As of
21 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 2020 AO2 — 1.338 AU from the Sun 2020 AO2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 AO2 is 0.836 AU from Earth today (7.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 11m 15s
Declination
+45° 47′ 41″
Constellation
Lynx
Distance from Earth
0.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
93.71° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.917 AU
Eccentricity
0.4602
Inclination
18.09°
Orbital period
320.7 days
Perihelion
0.495 AU
Aphelion
1.339 AU
Longitude of ascending node
301.41°
Argument of periapsis
300.02°
Epoch · J2000
2458853.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.2 LD
0.0236 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.384

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 9).

Observations used
28
Data arc
3 days
First observed
4 January 2020
Last observed
7 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 9 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 AO2 at 2096-09-29 13:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2096-09-29 13:10 UTC close approach of 2020 AO2. Catalogue miss distance 126.0 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2096-09-26 to 2096-10-02, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 126.0 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km 2096-09-29 13:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2096-09-29 13:10 UTC close approach of 2020 AO2. Catalogue miss distance 126.0 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2096-09-26 to 2096-10-02, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. 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
2096-09-29 13:10:00 Earth 0.3238 AU 126.0 LD 21.1 km/s
2097-07-14 05:13:00 Earth 0.4552 AU 177.2 LD 19.2 km/s
2099-01-19 17:29:00 Earth 0.0472 AU 18.4 LD 15.6 km/s
2099-04-03 16:16:00 Mercury 0.0861 AU 33.5 LD 25 km/s
2099-04-03 16:16:00 Merc 0.0861 AU 33.5 LD 25 km/s

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

Sources