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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 NJ1

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(2020 NJ1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.142 AU
True anomaly
152.11°
Distance from Earth
1.686 AU
As of
22 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 NJ1 — 1.142 AU from the Sun 2020 NJ1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 NJ1 is 1.686 AU from Earth today (14.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 34m 43s
Declination
-22° 55′ 37″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.69 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.06° — 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
0.935 AU
Eccentricity
0.2751
Inclination
7.72°
Orbital period
330.2 days
Perihelion
0.678 AU
Aphelion
1.192 AU
Longitude of ascending node
295.48°
Argument of periapsis
197.64°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 31.8 LD
0.0817 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.373

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
54
Data arc
35 days
First observed
14 July 2020
Last observed
18 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 170 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 NJ1 at 2028-06-25 04:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-25 04:04 UTC close approach of 2020 NJ1. Catalogue miss distance 188.1 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-22 to 2028-06-28, 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 188.1 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-25 04:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-25 04:04 UTC close approach of 2020 NJ1. Catalogue miss distance 188.1 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-22 to 2028-06-28, 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
2028-06-25 04:04:00 Earth 0.4832 AU 188.1 LD 22 km/s
2029-06-23 07:01:00 Earth 0.1089 AU 42.4 LD 6.7 km/s
2030-01-28 05:53:00 Earth 0.3076 AU 119.7 LD 11.5 km/s
2030-10-05 22:38:00 Earth 0.1318 AU 51.3 LD 7.6 km/s
2031-11-02 15:33:00 Venus 0.0433 AU 16.9 LD 10.5 km/s
2038-06-12 20:46:00 Earth 0.129 AU 50.2 LD 10.6 km/s
2039-02-24 17:15:00 Earth 0.3091 AU 120.3 LD 10.9 km/s
2039-08-31 21:48:00 Earth 0.1763 AU 68.6 LD 6.5 km/s
2039-11-22 15:44:00 Earth 0.2214 AU 86.2 LD 6.5 km/s
2040-09-21 19:12:00 Earth 0.4281 AU 166.6 LD 19.9 km/s

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

Sources