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Asteroid Near-Earth

2013 MD6

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(2013 MD6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.153 AU
True anomaly
156.81°
Distance from Earth
1.97 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2013 MD6 — 1.153 AU from the Sun 2013 MD6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2013 MD6 is 1.97 AU from Earth today (16.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 23m 03s
Declination
-12° 37′ 08″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.3° — 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
0.854 AU
Eccentricity
0.4338
Inclination
28.3°
Orbital period
288.1 days
Perihelion
0.483 AU
Aphelion
1.224 AU
Longitude of ascending node
91.93°
Argument of periapsis
1.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 80.3 LD
0.2064 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.738

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
79
Data arc
22.01 years
First observed
17 June 2002
Last observed
19 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.79

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 106 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2013 MD6 at 2028-06-22 08:44 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-22 08:44 UTC close approach of 2013 MD6. Catalogue miss distance 80.5 LD · 3.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-19 to 2028-06-25, 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 80.5 LD · 3.09 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-22 08:44 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-22 08:44 UTC close approach of 2013 MD6. Catalogue miss distance 80.5 LD · 3.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-19 to 2028-06-25, 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
2028-06-22 08:44:00 Earth 0.2067 AU 80.5 LD 15 km/s
2032-07-09 07:14:00 Earth 0.247 AU 96.1 LD 15.6 km/s
2035-06-02 05:52:00 Earth 0.348 AU 135.4 LD 19.5 km/s
2036-07-17 10:55:00 Earth 0.388 AU 151.0 LD 20.2 km/s
2039-06-11 05:15:00 Earth 0.2215 AU 86.2 LD 15.4 km/s
2043-06-28 04:18:00 Earth 0.2115 AU 82.3 LD 15 km/s
2047-07-14 00:58:00 Earth 0.2749 AU 107.0 LD 16.4 km/s
2050-06-02 23:23:00 Earth 0.2969 AU 115.5 LD 17.8 km/s
2051-07-17 11:58:00 Earth 0.4493 AU 174.9 LD 22.5 km/s
2054-06-15 13:07:00 Earth 0.2101 AU 81.8 LD 15.1 km/s

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

Sources