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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 AL3

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(2020 AL3)

2020 AL3 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.59 AU to 1.37 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 354.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.006 AU
True anomaly
243.38°
Distance from Earth
1.184 AU
As of
2 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 AL3 — 1.006 AU from the Sun 2020 AL3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 AL3 is 1.184 AU from Earth today (9.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 10m 43s
Declination
+05° 11′ 21″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.18 AU
Elongation from the Sun
54.13° — 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
0.981 AU
Eccentricity
0.394
Inclination
8.48°
Orbital period
354.9 days
Perihelion
0.595 AU
Aphelion
1.368 AU
Longitude of ascending node
114.11°
Argument of periapsis
115.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.8 LD
0.0046 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.093

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
52
Data arc
4 days
First observed
14 January 2020
Last observed
18 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 31 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 AL3 at 2043-09-20 19:25 UTC Sun 137.5 LD · 5.29 × 10⁷ km 2043-09-20 19:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-09-20 19:25 UTC close approach of 2020 AL3. Catalogue miss distance 137.5 LD · 5.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-09-17 to 2043-09-23, 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 south 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
2040-07-20 00:33:00 Venus 0.1155 AU 45.0 LD 18.1 km/s
2042-09-02 12:43:00 Venus 0.1314 AU 51.2 LD 19 km/s
2043-09-20 19:25:00 Earth 0.3534 AU 137.5 LD 22.8 km/s
2044-09-12 08:46:00 Earth 0.2018 AU 78.5 LD 17.7 km/s
2045-09-04 16:48:00 Earth 0.1139 AU 44.3 LD 12.7 km/s
2054-01-17 12:26:00 Earth 0.1051 AU 40.9 LD 10.1 km/s
2055-01-14 13:50:00 Earth 0.0682 AU 26.5 LD 14.9 km/s
2056-01-08 05:00:00 Earth 0.2448 AU 95.3 LD 20.3 km/s
2056-12-31 03:45:00 Earth 0.4187 AU 162.9 LD 25.7 km/s
2059-01-05 17:48:00 Venus 0.0624 AU 24.3 LD 15.3 km/s

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

Sources