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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 RS3

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(2020 RS3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.104 AU
True anomaly
146.25°
Distance from Earth
1.431 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 RS3 — 1.104 AU from the Sun 2020 RS3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 RS3 is 1.431 AU from Earth today (11.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 02m 25s
Declination
-28° 38′ 02″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
50.31° — 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
0.865 AU
Eccentricity
0.6048
Inclination
9.31°
Orbital period
293.9 days
Perihelion
0.342 AU
Aphelion
1.388 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.27°
Argument of periapsis
158.78°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 21.8 LD
0.0559 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.655

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
65
Data arc
11.99 years
First observed
30 September 2012
Last observed
25 September 2024
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 September 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.81

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 341 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 RS3 at 2027-07-23 04:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-23 04:18 UTC close approach of 2020 RS3. Catalogue miss distance 94.2 LD · 3.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-20 to 2027-07-26, 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 94.2 LD · 3.62 × 10⁷ km 2027-07-23 04:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-23 04:18 UTC close approach of 2020 RS3. Catalogue miss distance 94.2 LD · 3.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-20 to 2027-07-26, 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
2027-07-23 04:18:00 Earth 0.242 AU 94.2 LD 23.6 km/s
2028-09-12 04:12:00 Earth 0.3511 AU 136.7 LD 13.8 km/s
2031-07-11 20:13:00 Venus 0.1115 AU 43.4 LD 23.7 km/s
2031-07-28 16:32:00 Earth 0.3592 AU 139.8 LD 28 km/s
2031-11-28 04:12:00 Mars 0.0271 AU 10.5 LD 11.6 km/s
2032-09-02 03:09:00 Earth 0.3796 AU 147.7 LD 14 km/s
2033-09-21 06:51:00 Earth 0.4693 AU 182.6 LD 32.7 km/s
2035-08-03 17:05:00 Earth 0.484 AU 188.4 LD 32.5 km/s
2036-08-23 06:01:00 Earth 0.3831 AU 149.1 LD 14 km/s
2037-07-22 17:42:00 Mars 0.0475 AU 18.5 LD 12.1 km/s

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

Sources