Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 KQ

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2023 KQ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.777 AU
True anomaly
282.23°
Distance from Earth
0.879 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 2023 KQ — 0.777 AU from the Sun 2023 KQ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 KQ is 0.879 AU from Earth today (7.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 58m 15s
Declination
-13° 24′ 34″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.87 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.36° — 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
0.857 AU
Eccentricity
0.2255
Inclination
10.42°
Orbital period
289.9 days
Perihelion
0.664 AU
Aphelion
1.051 AU
Longitude of ascending node
240.25°
Argument of periapsis
166.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.6 LD
0.0273 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.847

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
77
Data arc
13 days
First observed
19 May 2023
Last observed
1 June 2023
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 June 2023

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.7 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 140 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 KQ at 2026-12-30 11:24 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-30 11:24 UTC close approach of 2023 KQ. Catalogue miss distance 111.3 LD · 4.28 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-27 to 2027-01-02, 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 111.3 LD · 4.28 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-30 11:24 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-30 11:24 UTC close approach of 2023 KQ. Catalogue miss distance 111.3 LD · 4.28 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-27 to 2027-01-02, 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
2026-12-30 11:24:00 Earth 0.2861 AU 111.3 LD 9.5 km/s
2027-06-04 12:06:00 Earth 0.1361 AU 53.0 LD 9.6 km/s
2029-04-22 01:16:00 Venus 0.0818 AU 31.8 LD 10.4 km/s
2030-12-01 21:52:00 Earth 0.3142 AU 122.3 LD 11.6 km/s
2031-06-01 22:28:00 Earth 0.3211 AU 125.0 LD 15.1 km/s
2034-11-04 21:59:00 Earth 0.3311 AU 128.8 LD 12.1 km/s
2034-11-21 00:05:00 Venus 0.0577 AU 22.5 LD 11 km/s
2038-04-10 08:30:00 Earth 0.355 AU 138.1 LD 14.9 km/s
2038-10-09 12:21:00 Earth 0.3337 AU 129.9 LD 10.9 km/s
2042-04-10 09:00:00 Earth 0.1941 AU 75.5 LD 9.2 km/s

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

Sources