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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 UM5

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(2020 UM5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.628 AU
True anomaly
116.77°
Distance from Earth
0.897 AU
As of
15 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 UM5 — 0.628 AU from the Sun 2020 UM5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 UM5 is 0.897 AU from Earth today (7.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 52m 44s
Declination
-26° 36′ 02″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
38.95° — 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
0.683 AU
Eccentricity
0.5595
Inclination
9.22°
Orbital period
206.4 days
Perihelion
0.301 AU
Aphelion
1.066 AU
Longitude of ascending node
33.32°
Argument of periapsis
170.19°
Epoch · J2000
2459145.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.9 LD
0.0255 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.207

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
22
Data arc
7 days
First observed
20 October 2020
Last observed
27 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 119 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 UM5 at 2028-10-30 01:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-30 01:42 UTC close approach of 2020 UM5. Catalogue miss distance 148.5 LD · 5.71 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-27 to 2028-11-02, 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 148.5 LD · 5.71 × 10⁷ km 2028-10-30 01:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-30 01:42 UTC close approach of 2020 UM5. Catalogue miss distance 148.5 LD · 5.71 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-27 to 2028-11-02, 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
2027-12-11 19:27:00 Venus 0.0612 AU 23.8 LD 19.5 km/s
2028-10-30 01:42:00 Earth 0.3816 AU 148.5 LD 25.7 km/s
2030-02-21 12:23:00 Mercury 0.0239 AU 9.3 LD 30.9 km/s
2030-02-21 12:23:00 Merc 0.0239 AU 9.3 LD 30.9 km/s
2030-07-28 06:08:00 Venus 0.1271 AU 49.4 LD 25 km/s
2031-11-02 06:43:00 Merc 0.0919 AU 35.8 LD 39.7 km/s
2031-11-02 06:43:00 Mercury 0.0919 AU 35.8 LD 39.7 km/s
2034-09-19 16:27:00 Venus 0.0978 AU 38.1 LD 24 km/s
2034-10-06 07:41:00 Earth 0.4156 AU 161.7 LD 26.8 km/s
2037-05-06 14:29:00 Venus 0.0784 AU 30.5 LD 20.1 km/s

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

Sources