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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 GQ

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(2020 GQ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.79 AU
True anomaly
52.64°
Distance from Earth
0.908 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 GQ — 0.79 AU from the Sun 2020 GQ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 GQ is 0.908 AU from Earth today (7.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 36m 28s
Declination
+03° 07′ 39″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
0.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.82° — 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
0.899 AU
Eccentricity
0.1707
Inclination
6.14°
Orbital period
311.1 days
Perihelion
0.745 AU
Aphelion
1.052 AU
Longitude of ascending node
187.69°
Argument of periapsis
206.73°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.4 LD
0.0241 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.605

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
30
Data arc
12 days
First observed
2 April 2020
Last observed
14 April 2020
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 54 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 GQ at 2031-03-19 07:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-19 07:47 UTC close approach of 2020 GQ. Catalogue miss distance 147.1 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-16 to 2031-03-22, 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 147.1 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km 2031-03-19 07:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-19 07:47 UTC close approach of 2020 GQ. Catalogue miss distance 147.1 LD · 5.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-16 to 2031-03-22, 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
2029-03-31 09:19:00 Venus 0.1082 AU 42.1 LD 8 km/s
2031-03-19 07:47:00 Earth 0.3781 AU 147.1 LD 15.7 km/s
2032-05-25 18:00:00 Earth 0.3494 AU 136.0 LD 14.2 km/s
2037-03-11 14:03:00 Earth 0.1237 AU 48.1 LD 7.9 km/s
2048-11-18 10:39:00 Earth 0.246 AU 95.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2049-05-30 07:49:00 Earth 0.2077 AU 80.8 LD 9.5 km/s
2054-03-15 01:06:00 Earth 0.2706 AU 105.3 LD 12.5 km/s
2054-10-04 04:38:00 Earth 0.2464 AU 95.9 LD 7.9 km/s
2055-05-22 18:25:00 Earth 0.4513 AU 175.6 LD 17.5 km/s
2058-03-17 21:59:00 Venus 0.0832 AU 32.4 LD 7 km/s

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

Sources