2020 PH5 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.67 AU to 1.31 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 358.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 September 2024.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.938 AU
- True anomaly
- 259.52°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.328 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 09h 25m 08s
- Declination
- -52° 23′ 00″
- Constellation
- Vela
- Distance from Earth
- 0.33 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 70.36° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.988 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3269
- Inclination
- 19.64°
- Orbital period
- 358.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.665 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.311 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 162.23°
- Argument of periapsis
- 347.01°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 93.9 LD
- 0.2414 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.042
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 61
- Data arc
- 5.13 years
- First observed
- 27 July 2019
- Last observed
- 13 September 2024
- Residual RMS
- 0.56 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 14 September 2024
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 22.37
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 198 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-12 14:03 UTC close approach of 2020 PH5. Catalogue miss distance 145.6 LD · 5.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-09 to 2027-10-15, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 10:43:00 | Earth | 0.306 AU | 119.1 LD | 15.4 km/s |
| 2027-01-10 16:24:00 | Venus | 0.1029 AU | 40.0 LD | 14.5 km/s |
| 2027-10-12 14:03:00 | Earth | 0.3741 AU | 145.6 LD | 18.2 km/s |
| 2028-10-09 02:49:00 | Earth | 0.4563 AU | 177.6 LD | 21.3 km/s |
| 2041-04-23 00:20:00 | Mars | 0.0981 AU | 38.2 LD | 10 km/s |
| 2063-05-19 15:58:00 | Venus | 0.1232 AU | 47.9 LD | 17.4 km/s |
| 2065-06-29 23:15:00 | Earth | 0.4653 AU | 181.1 LD | 19.1 km/s |
| 2066-06-25 15:45:00 | Earth | 0.4007 AU | 155.9 LD | 15.9 km/s |
| 2067-06-22 04:09:00 | Earth | 0.3559 AU | 138.5 LD | 12.8 km/s |
| 2068-04-13 15:33:00 | Venus | 0.0545 AU | 21.2 LD | 15.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB