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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 JA4

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(2023 JA4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.023 AU
True anomaly
125.31°
Distance from Earth
1.992 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 2023 JA4 — 1.023 AU from the Sun 2023 JA4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 JA4 is 1.992 AU from Earth today (16.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 17m 00s
Declination
-16° 30′ 03″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.24° — 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
0.929 AU
Eccentricity
0.3333
Inclination
29.65°
Orbital period
327 days
Perihelion
0.619 AU
Aphelion
1.238 AU
Longitude of ascending node
227.44°
Argument of periapsis
202.08°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 66.3 LD
0.1702 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.294

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
28
Data arc
12 days
First observed
13 May 2023
Last observed
25 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 27 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 JA4 at 2031-04-27 08:33 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-04-27 08:33 UTC close approach of 2023 JA4. Catalogue miss distance 95.7 LD · 3.68 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-04-24 to 2031-04-30, 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 95.7 LD · 3.68 × 10⁷ km 2031-04-27 08:33 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-04-27 08:33 UTC close approach of 2023 JA4. Catalogue miss distance 95.7 LD · 3.68 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-04-24 to 2031-04-30, 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
2027-06-13 19:09:00 Venus 0.1043 AU 40.6 LD 23.9 km/s
2031-04-27 08:33:00 Earth 0.2459 AU 95.7 LD 18 km/s
2031-12-17 19:50:00 Earth 0.4393 AU 171.0 LD 21.5 km/s
2032-05-17 04:02:00 Earth 0.2984 AU 116.1 LD 15 km/s
2032-10-16 16:40:00 Earth 0.3694 AU 143.8 LD 21.8 km/s
2037-04-18 23:05:00 Venus 0.0955 AU 37.2 LD 23.6 km/s
2039-05-01 10:39:00 Earth 0.4985 AU 194.0 LD 25.1 km/s
2040-05-02 12:45:00 Earth 0.1744 AU 67.9 LD 15.3 km/s
2048-04-26 14:13:00 Earth 0.2764 AU 107.6 LD 18.8 km/s
2057-05-01 07:21:00 Earth 0.17 AU 66.2 LD 15.5 km/s

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

Sources