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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 RT8

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(2020 RT8)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.638 AU
True anomaly
0.9°
Distance from Earth
1.628 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 RT8 — 0.638 AU from the Sun 2020 RT8
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 RT8 is 1.628 AU from Earth today (13.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 38m 28s
Declination
-10° 11′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
3.15° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.946 AU
Eccentricity
0.3259
Inclination
3.23°
Orbital period
336 days
Perihelion
0.638 AU
Aphelion
1.254 AU
Longitude of ascending node
23.28°
Argument of periapsis
176.69°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.9 LD
0.0485 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.306

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
17
Data arc
12 days
First observed
14 September 2020
Last observed
26 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.88 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 53 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 RT8 at 2031-08-14 13:58 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-08-14 13:58 UTC close approach of 2020 RT8. Catalogue miss distance 21.7 LD · 8.36 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-08-11 to 2031-08-17, 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 12 Aug 17 Aug 21.7 LD · 8.36 × 10⁶ km 2031-08-14 13:58 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-08-14 13:58 UTC close approach of 2020 RT8. Catalogue miss distance 21.7 LD · 8.36 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-08-11 to 2031-08-17, 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
2027-10-08 20:32:00 Venus 0.0761 AU 29.6 LD 7.3 km/s
2031-08-14 13:58:00 Earth 0.0559 AU 21.7 LD 10.4 km/s
2032-05-20 09:04:00 Earth 0.337 AU 131.1 LD 11.3 km/s
2032-10-10 12:36:00 Earth 0.256 AU 99.6 LD 8.1 km/s
2033-03-18 13:05:00 Earth 0.3469 AU 135.0 LD 12.5 km/s
2033-12-15 19:09:00 Earth 0.0606 AU 23.6 LD 8.6 km/s
2034-11-29 16:34:00 Earth 0.4519 AU 175.9 LD 23.7 km/s
2038-09-13 21:24:00 Venus 0.0299 AU 11.6 LD 8.2 km/s
2040-07-19 10:23:00 Venus 0.0323 AU 12.6 LD 8.1 km/s
2042-05-27 20:36:00 Venus 0.0465 AU 18.1 LD 7.6 km/s

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

Sources