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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 XC

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(2020 XC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.902 AU
True anomaly
283.69°
Distance from Earth
1.875 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 XC — 0.902 AU from the Sun 2020 XC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 XC is 1.875 AU from Earth today (15.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 21m 36s
Declination
-13° 36′ 50″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.23° — 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
0.936 AU
Eccentricity
0.1093
Inclination
2.53°
Orbital period
331 days
Perihelion
0.834 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
68.78°
Argument of periapsis
234.15°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.3 LD
0.0007 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.399

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
53
Data arc
11 days
First observed
3 December 2020
Last observed
14 December 2020
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
29.04

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 36 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 XC at 2029-12-07 00:16 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-12-07 00:16 UTC close approach of 2020 XC. Catalogue miss distance 143.5 LD · 5.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-12-04 to 2029-12-10, 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 143.5 LD · 5.52 × 10⁷ km 2029-12-07 00:16 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-12-07 00:16 UTC close approach of 2020 XC. Catalogue miss distance 143.5 LD · 5.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-12-04 to 2029-12-10, 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
2027-12-14 20:26:00 Venus 0.1321 AU 51.4 LD 1.2 km/s
2029-12-07 00:16:00 Earth 0.3687 AU 143.5 LD 14.8 km/s
2030-09-05 23:07:00 Earth 0.1634 AU 63.6 LD 4.1 km/s
2031-03-18 02:41:00 Earth 0.0428 AU 16.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2039-11-28 18:41:00 Earth 0.0504 AU 19.6 LD 5 km/s
2040-06-19 14:14:00 Earth 0.1687 AU 65.7 LD 4.6 km/s
2041-03-10 18:02:00 Earth 0.3212 AU 125.0 LD 13.1 km/s
2041-05-06 20:21:00 Venus 0.1485 AU 57.8 LD 1.9 km/s
2043-04-21 21:35:00 Venus 0.1145 AU 44.6 LD 0.8 km/s
2048-12-11 01:22:00 Earth 0.4611 AU 179.4 LD 17.7 km/s

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

Sources