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Asteroid Near-Earth

1993 DA

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(1993 DA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.961 AU
True anomaly
248.15°
Distance from Earth
1.947 AU
As of
21 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 1993 DA — 0.961 AU from the Sun 1993 DA
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 1993 DA is 1.947 AU from Earth today (16.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 45m 12s
Declination
-16° 40′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.53° — too close to the Sun to observe

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.

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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
0.936 AU
Eccentricity
0.0931
Inclination
12.39°
Orbital period
330.7 days
Perihelion
0.849 AU
Aphelion
1.023 AU
Longitude of ascending node
329°
Argument of periapsis
353.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.3 LD
0.0341 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.384

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
22
Data arc
5 days
First observed
17 February 1993
Last observed
22 February 1993
Residual RMS
1.11 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 76 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 1993 DA at 2031-02-07 23:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-02-07 23:18 UTC close approach of 1993 DA. Catalogue miss distance 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-02-04 to 2031-02-10, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km 2031-02-07 23:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-02-07 23:18 UTC close approach of 1993 DA. Catalogue miss distance 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-02-04 to 2031-02-10, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-10-04 23:44:00 Venus 0.1212 AU 47.2 LD 8.3 km/s
2031-02-07 23:18:00 Earth 0.111 AU 43.2 LD 7.1 km/s
2032-03-05 22:00:00 Earth 0.4237 AU 164.9 LD 15.7 km/s
2040-01-16 00:27:00 Earth 0.431 AU 167.7 LD 15 km/s
2041-02-25 20:50:00 Earth 0.0896 AU 34.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2050-01-27 18:18:00 Earth 0.2068 AU 80.5 LD 8.7 km/s
2050-07-29 22:46:00 Earth 0.1837 AU 71.5 LD 7.9 km/s
2051-03-06 23:02:00 Earth 0.3194 AU 124.3 LD 12.7 km/s
2059-09-29 15:10:00 Earth 0.1844 AU 71.8 LD 7.5 km/s
2060-02-20 13:11:00 Earth 0.036 AU 14.0 LD 6.7 km/s

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

Sources