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Centaur

2020 PA12

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(2020 PA12)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.547 AU
True anomaly
162.85°
Distance from Earth
9.498 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2020 PA12 — 8.547 AU from the Sun 2020 PA12
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 PA12 is 9.498 AU from Earth today (1.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 03m 19s
Declination
-03° 05′ 12″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
9.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.23° — 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
5.924 AU
Eccentricity
0.5093
Inclination
4.97°
Orbital period
14.42 years
Perihelion
2.907 AU
Aphelion
8.941 AU
Longitude of ascending node
214°
Argument of periapsis
163.06°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 742.8 LD
1.9086 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.708

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
51
Data arc
14.94 years
First observed
22 December 2006
Last observed
29 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 January 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.3

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2036-06-10 07:30:00 Juptr 1.7531 AU 682.3 LD 6 km/s
2069-08-30 15:34:00 Satrn 1.4882 AU 579.2 LD 3.1 km/s
2090-05-22 04:34:00 Juptr 1.5531 AU 604.4 LD 10 km/s
2100-01-16 20:53:00 Satrn 1.3884 AU 540.3 LD 3.3 km/s
2121-11-15 02:54:00 Juptr 1.3901 AU 541.0 LD 9.5 km/s
2174-01-01 12:19:00 Juptr 0.881 AU 342.9 LD 4.7 km/s
2192-09-15 10:45:00 Juptr 1.1019 AU 428.8 LD 8.9 km/s

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

Sources