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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 HW2

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(2020 HW2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.119 AU
True anomaly
179.25°
Distance from Earth
2.078 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 HW2 — 1.119 AU from the Sun 2020 HW2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 HW2 is 2.078 AU from Earth today (17.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 49m 41s
Declination
-03° 24′ 40″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.08 AU
Elongation from the Sun
11.54° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.814 AU
Eccentricity
0.3746
Inclination
3.28°
Orbital period
268.1 days
Perihelion
0.509 AU
Aphelion
1.119 AU
Longitude of ascending node
91.49°
Argument of periapsis
271.32°
Epoch · J2000
2458958.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 17.3 LD
0.0444 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.126

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
30
Data arc
7 days
First observed
18 April 2020
Last observed
25 April 2020
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.89

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 45 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 HW2 at 2028-02-16 16:12 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-16 16:12 UTC close approach of 2020 HW2. Catalogue miss distance 27.0 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-13 to 2028-02-19, 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 27.0 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km 2028-02-16 16:12 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-16 16:12 UTC close approach of 2020 HW2. Catalogue miss distance 27.0 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-13 to 2028-02-19, 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
2028-02-16 16:12:00 Earth 0.0695 AU 27.0 LD 8.1 km/s
2028-07-15 11:16:00 Earth 0.3966 AU 154.4 LD 10.9 km/s
2031-04-28 12:10:00 Earth 0.0566 AU 22.0 LD 8.7 km/s
2033-10-11 16:18:00 Earth 0.4858 AU 189.1 LD 18.6 km/s
2034-04-22 17:54:00 Earth 0.3379 AU 131.5 LD 20.4 km/s
2036-02-21 12:28:00 Earth 0.3651 AU 142.1 LD 21.3 km/s
2039-02-12 23:10:00 Earth 0.0482 AU 18.7 LD 9.1 km/s
2039-07-11 10:10:00 Venus 0.049 AU 19.1 LD 11.1 km/s
2040-06-20 16:52:00 Venus 0.0914 AU 35.6 LD 17.9 km/s
2043-03-14 17:04:00 Venus 0.0901 AU 35.1 LD 17.8 km/s

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

Sources