2020 VL is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.91 AU to 1.07 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 358.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 25 December 2022.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.066 AU
- True anomaly
- 169.8°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.504 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 09h 12m 06s
- Declination
- +11° 59′ 08″
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Distance from Earth
- 0.5 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 84.24° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.988 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0799
- Inclination
- 5.59°
- Orbital period
- 358.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.909 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.067 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 229.29°
- Argument of periapsis
- 29.3°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 20.4 LD
- 0.0525 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.131
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 81
- Data arc
- 793 days
- First observed
- 22 October 2020
- Last observed
- 24 December 2022
- Residual RMS
- 0.56 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 25 December 2022
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 25.12
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 91 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-24 17:31 UTC close approach of 2020 VL. Catalogue miss distance 119.5 LD · 4.59 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-21 to 2027-02-27, 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. 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-02-24 17:31:00 | Earth | 0.3069 AU | 119.5 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2028-02-19 16:37:00 | Earth | 0.4159 AU | 161.9 LD | 15.3 km/s |
| 2071-10-14 20:45:00 | Earth | 0.4133 AU | 160.8 LD | 15.2 km/s |
| 2072-10-10 16:16:00 | Earth | 0.3041 AU | 118.3 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2073-10-08 17:45:00 | Earth | 0.1977 AU | 76.9 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2074-10-09 20:41:00 | Earth | 0.1009 AU | 39.2 LD | 5.7 km/s |
| 2075-10-22 21:30:00 | Earth | 0.0528 AU | 20.5 LD | 3.8 km/s |
| 2076-07-14 04:55:00 | Earth | 0.1266 AU | 49.3 LD | 3.4 km/s |
| 2076-11-20 00:42:00 | Earth | 0.082 AU | 31.9 LD | 3.7 km/s |
| 2077-06-05 00:49:00 | Earth | 0.1132 AU | 44.0 LD | 4.1 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB