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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 EL

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(2023 EL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.961 AU
True anomaly
183.92°
Distance from Earth
1.898 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 2023 EL — 0.961 AU from the Sun 2023 EL
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 EL is 1.898 AU from Earth today (15.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 13m 17s
Declination
-17° 26′ 31″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.9 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.83° — 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.

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
0.771 AU
Eccentricity
0.2462
Inclination
13.88°
Orbital period
247.5 days
Perihelion
0.582 AU
Aphelion
0.961 AU
Longitude of ascending node
263.37°
Argument of periapsis
142.58°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · IEO
Atira (interior-Earth object)
Earth MOID · 37.2 LD
0.0956 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.47

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
68
Data arc
7.84 years
First observed
15 April 2017
Last observed
16 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.17

Discovery & classification

Atira Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 78 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 EL at 2040-05-28 23:32 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2040-05-28 23:32 UTC close approach of 2023 EL. Catalogue miss distance 49.7 LD · 1.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2040-05-25 to 2040-05-31, 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 49.7 LD · 1.91 × 10⁷ km 2040-05-28 23:32 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2040-05-28 23:32 UTC close approach of 2023 EL. Catalogue miss distance 49.7 LD · 1.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2040-05-25 to 2040-05-31, 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
2030-04-25 13:45:00 Venus 0.1426 AU 55.5 LD 11.9 km/s
2031-04-02 20:04:00 Venus 0.1229 AU 47.8 LD 15 km/s
2040-05-28 23:32:00 Earth 0.1277 AU 49.7 LD 9.6 km/s
2042-06-08 02:03:00 Earth 0.142 AU 55.3 LD 7.1 km/s
2057-08-24 15:28:00 Venus 0.1331 AU 51.8 LD 13.7 km/s
2061-05-30 23:06:00 Earth 0.1079 AU 42.0 LD 8.9 km/s
2063-06-10 07:07:00 Earth 0.168 AU 65.4 LD 7.1 km/s
2064-06-06 20:21:00 Venus 0.1144 AU 44.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2070-04-25 02:13:00 Venus 0.1376 AU 53.6 LD 12.8 km/s
2071-03-20 20:50:00 Venus 0.1056 AU 41.1 LD 13.9 km/s

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

Sources