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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 KF6

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(2020 KF6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.822 AU
True anomaly
302.24°
Distance from Earth
1.037 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 KF6 — 0.822 AU from the Sun 2020 KF6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 KF6 is 1.037 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 59m 55s
Declination
-06° 05′ 33″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.69° — 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
0.924 AU
Eccentricity
0.1714
Inclination
21.83°
Orbital period
324.5 days
Perihelion
0.766 AU
Aphelion
1.083 AU
Longitude of ascending node
248.87°
Argument of periapsis
131.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.9 LD
0.0022 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.401

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
27
Data arc
2 days
First observed
27 May 2020
Last observed
29 May 2020
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.8

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 106 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 KF6 at 2027-01-21 14:35 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-21 14:35 UTC close approach of 2020 KF6. Catalogue miss distance 166.5 LD · 6.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-18 to 2027-01-24, 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. Sun 166.5 LD · 6.4 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-21 14:35 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-21 14:35 UTC close approach of 2020 KF6. Catalogue miss distance 166.5 LD · 6.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-18 to 2027-01-24, 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
2027-01-21 14:35:00 Earth 0.4278 AU 166.5 LD 19.2 km/s
2027-11-12 05:20:00 Earth 0.2576 AU 100.2 LD 13.3 km/s
2028-05-28 20:43:00 Earth 0.0601 AU 23.4 LD 12.6 km/s
2035-01-17 18:54:00 Earth 0.3893 AU 151.5 LD 18.2 km/s
2035-11-05 10:25:00 Earth 0.2862 AU 111.4 LD 13.3 km/s
2036-05-27 16:00:00 Earth 0.1116 AU 43.4 LD 13.4 km/s
2043-01-11 18:05:00 Earth 0.3349 AU 130.3 LD 17 km/s
2044-05-25 18:47:00 Earth 0.1809 AU 70.4 LD 14.8 km/s
2051-01-04 17:05:00 Earth 0.2779 AU 108.2 LD 15.8 km/s
2051-05-17 17:55:00 Earth 0.3933 AU 153.1 LD 12.9 km/s

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

Sources