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Asteroid Near-Earth

2003 FY6

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(2003 FY6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.422 AU
True anomaly
75.73°
Distance from Earth
1.029 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 2003 FY6 — 0.422 AU from the Sun 2003 FY6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2003 FY6 is 1.029 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 00m 49s
Declination
+02° 43′ 10″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.36° — 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
0.73 AU
Eccentricity
0.5821
Inclination
6.59°
Orbital period
227.8 days
Perihelion
0.305 AU
Aphelion
1.155 AU
Longitude of ascending node
359.09°
Argument of periapsis
29.75°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
0.0041 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.733

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
204
Data arc
20.07 years
First observed
29 March 2003
Last observed
25 April 2023
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.61

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 337 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2003 FY6 at 2028-04-09 12:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-09 12:08 UTC close approach of 2003 FY6. Catalogue miss distance 59.0 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-06 to 2028-04-12, 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. Sun 59.0 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-09 12:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-09 12:08 UTC close approach of 2003 FY6. Catalogue miss distance 59.0 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-06 to 2028-04-12, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-04-09 12:08:00 Earth 0.1515 AU 59.0 LD 12 km/s
2029-04-02 12:43:00 Mercury 0.0325 AU 12.7 LD 14 km/s
2029-04-02 12:43:00 Merc 0.0325 AU 12.7 LD 14 km/s
2030-05-08 13:53:00 Earth 0.3395 AU 132.1 LD 25.4 km/s
2031-04-02 05:53:00 Earth 0.4051 AU 157.6 LD 28.2 km/s
2032-04-30 00:26:00 Merc 0.0169 AU 6.6 LD 17.8 km/s
2032-04-30 00:26:00 Mercury 0.0169 AU 6.6 LD 17.8 km/s
2033-04-16 09:41:00 Earth 0.1615 AU 62.9 LD 12 km/s
2035-05-06 12:57:00 Earth 0.3937 AU 153.2 LD 27.4 km/s
2036-03-30 00:29:00 Earth 0.3465 AU 134.8 LD 26.2 km/s

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

Sources