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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

163243

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163243 (2002 FB3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.085 AU
True anomaly
156.61°
Distance from Earth
1.848 AU
As of
16 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 163243 — 1.085 AU from the Sun 163243
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 163243 is 1.848 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 31m 22s
Declination
-07° 21′ 45″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.77° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.762 AU
Eccentricity
0.6016
Inclination
20.28°
Orbital period
242.8 days
Perihelion
0.303 AU
Aphelion
1.22 AU
Longitude of ascending node
203.55°
Argument of periapsis
148.34°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.2 LD
0.0031 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.406

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,995
Data arc
24.25 years
First observed
18 March 2002
Last observed
16 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.84 km
Rotation period
6.23 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.172
Absolute magnitude (H)
16.42

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
18 March 2002
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2002 FB3

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 137 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-02-22 02:11:00 Venus 0.0998 AU 38.8 LD 22.7 km/s
2035-02-18 04:11:00 Venus 0.1139 AU 44.3 LD 28.8 km/s
2040-07-23 02:35:00 Merc 0.0739 AU 28.8 LD 31.2 km/s
2040-07-23 02:35:00 Mercury 0.0739 AU 28.8 LD 31.2 km/s
2043-03-21 05:15:00 Merc 0.0373 AU 14.5 LD 40.5 km/s
2043-03-21 05:15:00 Mercury 0.0373 AU 14.5 LD 40.5 km/s
2043-10-03 06:35:00 Venus 0.136 AU 52.9 LD 21 km/s
2051-09-30 13:26:00 Venus 0.0834 AU 32.5 LD 26.2 km/s
2057-03-06 14:08:00 Merc 0.0589 AU 22.9 LD 32 km/s
2057-03-06 14:08:00 Mercury 0.0589 AU 22.9 LD 32 km/s

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

Sources