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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 SW3

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(2020 SW3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.988 AU
True anomaly
152.32°
Distance from Earth
0.897 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 SW3 — 0.988 AU from the Sun 2020 SW3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 SW3 is 0.897 AU from Earth today (7.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 43m 54s
Declination
-25° 42′ 15″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.9 AU
Elongation from the Sun
62.65° — 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.

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
0.777 AU
Eccentricity
0.3478
Inclination
4.68°
Orbital period
250.4 days
Perihelion
0.507 AU
Aphelion
1.048 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.6°
Argument of periapsis
180.65°
Epoch · J2000
2459115.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.7 LD
0.0274 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.416

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
15
Data arc
4 days
First observed
22 September 2020
Last observed
26 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 99 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 SW3 at 2029-10-12 22:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-12 22:42 UTC close approach of 2020 SW3. Catalogue miss distance 142.1 LD · 5.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-09 to 2029-10-15, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 142.1 LD · 5.46 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-12 22:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-12 22:42 UTC close approach of 2020 SW3. Catalogue miss distance 142.1 LD · 5.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-09 to 2029-10-15, 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. 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
2029-10-12 22:42:00 Earth 0.3651 AU 142.1 LD 19.1 km/s
2059-09-01 02:44:00 Earth 0.3702 AU 144.1 LD 19.4 km/s
2066-10-18 14:51:00 Earth 0.2141 AU 83.3 LD 14 km/s
2070-08-26 18:01:00 Earth 0.2133 AU 83.0 LD 14.1 km/s
2071-01-19 01:39:00 Earth 0.4057 AU 157.9 LD 12.3 km/s
2073-02-25 21:45:00 Earth 0.4741 AU 184.5 LD 17.9 km/s
2073-12-26 00:18:00 Venus 0.0862 AU 33.6 LD 9 km/s
2075-04-01 13:12:00 Earth 0.4875 AU 189.7 LD 18.6 km/s
2077-10-12 15:30:00 Earth 0.3749 AU 145.9 LD 19.4 km/s
2079-10-19 00:31:00 Earth 0.0628 AU 24.4 LD 8.7 km/s

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

Sources