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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 ME

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(2020 ME)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.995 AU
True anomaly
217.23°
Distance from Earth
1.261 AU
As of
19 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 ME — 0.995 AU from the Sun 2020 ME
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 ME is 1.261 AU from Earth today (10.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 01m 08s
Declination
-29° 09′ 06″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
50.62° — 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
0.843 AU
Eccentricity
0.2697
Inclination
16.66°
Orbital period
282.6 days
Perihelion
0.615 AU
Aphelion
1.07 AU
Longitude of ascending node
99.91°
Argument of periapsis
351.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.7 LD
0.0481 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.917

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
46
Data arc
31 days
First observed
16 June 2020
Last observed
17 July 2020
Residual RMS
0.23 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.6

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 102 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 ME at 2027-02-20 00:19 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-20 00:19 UTC close approach of 2020 ME. Catalogue miss distance 137.5 LD · 5.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-17 to 2027-02-23, 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 137.5 LD · 5.29 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-20 00:19 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-20 00:19 UTC close approach of 2020 ME. Catalogue miss distance 137.5 LD · 5.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-17 to 2027-02-23, 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
2027-02-20 00:19:00 Earth 0.3533 AU 137.5 LD 12.1 km/s
2027-07-13 12:03:00 Earth 0.124 AU 48.2 LD 10.7 km/s
2029-05-21 18:35:00 Venus 0.107 AU 41.6 LD 11.8 km/s
2030-06-05 14:37:00 Earth 0.3018 AU 117.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2030-11-16 14:16:00 Earth 0.3824 AU 148.8 LD 13.9 km/s
2032-07-07 06:36:00 Venus 0.0996 AU 38.7 LD 11.9 km/s
2034-01-20 19:33:00 Earth 0.3608 AU 140.4 LD 15.3 km/s
2034-07-14 22:32:00 Earth 0.3207 AU 124.8 LD 16 km/s
2037-06-17 11:03:00 Earth 0.1367 AU 53.2 LD 9.6 km/s
2037-10-08 07:40:00 Earth 0.3648 AU 142.0 LD 7.1 km/s

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

Sources