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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 DB3

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(2020 DB3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.455 AU
True anomaly
356.61°
Distance from Earth
1.02 AU
As of
16 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 DB3 — 0.455 AU from the Sun 2020 DB3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 DB3 is 1.02 AU from Earth today (8.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 00m 54s
Declination
-22° 16′ 17″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.02 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.08° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.745 AU
Eccentricity
0.3895
Inclination
11.28°
Orbital period
234.8 days
Perihelion
0.455 AU
Aphelion
1.035 AU
Longitude of ascending node
43.03°
Argument of periapsis
264.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 59.2 LD
0.1522 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.668

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
88
Data arc
14.23 years
First observed
6 January 2011
Last observed
31 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.52

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 196 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 DB3 at 2026-12-24 04:25 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-24 04:25 UTC close approach of 2020 DB3. Catalogue miss distance 66.3 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-21 to 2026-12-27, 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 66.3 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-24 04:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-24 04:25 UTC close approach of 2020 DB3. Catalogue miss distance 66.3 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-21 to 2026-12-27, 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
2026-10-16 21:09:00 Merc 0.0815 AU 31.7 LD 18 km/s
2026-10-16 21:09:00 Mercury 0.0815 AU 31.7 LD 18 km/s
2026-12-24 04:25:00 Earth 0.1703 AU 66.3 LD 12.9 km/s
2029-03-02 13:41:00 Earth 0.1788 AU 69.6 LD 11.2 km/s
2035-12-24 19:40:00 Earth 0.1753 AU 68.2 LD 13.2 km/s
2036-04-29 13:05:00 Venus 0.0224 AU 8.7 LD 15.6 km/s
2038-03-03 00:25:00 Earth 0.178 AU 69.3 LD 11.1 km/s
2039-10-05 10:56:00 Venus 0.0945 AU 36.8 LD 11.4 km/s
2040-05-25 09:01:00 Venus 0.1241 AU 48.3 LD 20.6 km/s
2044-12-23 16:42:00 Earth 0.1692 AU 65.8 LD 12.8 km/s

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

Sources