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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 UM2

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(2020 UM2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.844 AU
True anomaly
13.1°
Distance from Earth
1.779 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 UM2 — 0.844 AU from the Sun 2020 UM2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 UM2 is 1.779 AU from Earth today (14.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 01m 06s
Declination
-06° 55′ 17″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.78 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.36° — 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
0.959 AU
Eccentricity
0.1233
Inclination
2.62°
Orbital period
343.3 days
Perihelion
0.841 AU
Aphelion
1.078 AU
Longitude of ascending node
198.45°
Argument of periapsis
328.35°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.0 LD
0.0258 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.275

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
27
Data arc
17 days
First observed
19 October 2020
Last observed
5 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 27 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 UM2 at 2034-07-24 16:36 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-24 16:36 UTC close approach of 2020 UM2. Catalogue miss distance 140.9 LD · 5.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-21 to 2034-07-27, 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 140.9 LD · 5.42 × 10⁷ km 2034-07-24 16:36 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-24 16:36 UTC close approach of 2020 UM2. Catalogue miss distance 140.9 LD · 5.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-21 to 2034-07-27, 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
2034-07-24 16:36:00 Earth 0.3622 AU 140.9 LD 14 km/s
2035-07-15 02:43:00 Earth 0.0465 AU 18.1 LD 3.2 km/s
2036-03-03 02:37:00 Earth 0.1511 AU 58.8 LD 4.5 km/s
2036-11-16 03:29:00 Earth 0.1024 AU 39.9 LD 6.3 km/s
2037-11-01 11:52:00 Earth 0.4716 AU 183.5 LD 17.7 km/s
2050-07-19 14:49:00 Earth 0.2381 AU 92.7 LD 10.2 km/s
2052-11-11 00:59:00 Earth 0.2355 AU 91.6 LD 10.4 km/s
2065-07-28 21:02:00 Earth 0.4721 AU 183.7 LD 17.3 km/s
2066-07-14 12:31:00 Earth 0.1178 AU 45.8 LD 6.5 km/s
2068-11-06 01:40:00 Earth 0.3501 AU 136.3 LD 13.9 km/s

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

Sources