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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 DK

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(2020 DK)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.47 AU
True anomaly
78.38°
Distance from Earth
0.652 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 DK — 0.47 AU from the Sun 2020 DK
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 DK is 0.652 AU from Earth today (5.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 59m 52s
Declination
+02° 14′ 35″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
0.66 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.18° — 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
0.689 AU
Eccentricity
0.4995
Inclination
2.81°
Orbital period
209 days
Perihelion
0.345 AU
Aphelion
1.034 AU
Longitude of ascending node
323.03°
Argument of periapsis
13.37°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.4 LD
0.0037 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.179

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
53
Data arc
17 days
First observed
4 February 2020
Last observed
21 February 2020
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.06

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 214 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 DK at 2028-02-09 23:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-09 23:46 UTC close approach of 2020 DK. Catalogue miss distance 4.50 LD · 1.73 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-06 to 2028-02-12, 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 7 Feb 12 Feb 4.50 LD · 1.73 × 10⁶ km 2028-02-09 23:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-09 23:46 UTC close approach of 2020 DK. Catalogue miss distance 4.50 LD · 1.73 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-06 to 2028-02-12, 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
2028-02-09 23:46:00 Earth 0.0116 AU 4.5 LD 10.2 km/s
2028-02-10 07:22:00 Moon 0.0096 AU 3.8 LD 11.1 km/s
2028-05-08 12:05:00 Venus 0.0646 AU 25.1 LD 17.6 km/s
2030-02-27 15:20:00 Merc 0.0788 AU 30.7 LD 17.4 km/s
2030-02-27 15:20:00 Mercury 0.0788 AU 30.7 LD 17.4 km/s
2032-02-09 14:55:00 Earth 0.0095 AU 3.7 LD 10.3 km/s
2033-09-13 10:48:00 Venus 0.0377 AU 14.7 LD 20.1 km/s
2034-09-15 02:04:00 Mercury 0.0578 AU 22.5 LD 17.1 km/s
2034-09-15 02:04:00 Merc 0.0578 AU 22.5 LD 17.1 km/s
2036-02-13 01:50:00 Earth 0.0252 AU 9.8 LD 9.8 km/s

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

Sources