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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 NK

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(2023 NK)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.828 AU
True anomaly
355.55°
Distance from Earth
1.466 AU
As of
22 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 NK — 0.828 AU from the Sun 2023 NK
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 NK is 1.466 AU from Earth today (12.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 49m 54s
Declination
+02° 20′ 02″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.47 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.72° — 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
0.94 AU
Eccentricity
0.1192
Inclination
4.03°
Orbital period
332.8 days
Perihelion
0.828 AU
Aphelion
1.052 AU
Longitude of ascending node
106.23°
Argument of periapsis
34.35°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.8 LD
0.0072 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.378

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
52
Data arc
5 days
First observed
8 July 2023
Last observed
13 July 2023
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 July 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.16

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 76 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 NK at 2033-06-29 14:16 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-06-29 14:16 UTC close approach of 2023 NK. Catalogue miss distance 53.8 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-06-26 to 2033-07-02, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 53.8 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km 2033-06-29 14:16 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-06-29 14:16 UTC close approach of 2023 NK. Catalogue miss distance 53.8 LD · 2.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-06-26 to 2033-07-02, 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. 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
2033-06-29 14:16:00 Earth 0.1382 AU 53.8 LD 7.1 km/s
2034-02-01 12:40:00 Earth 0.1591 AU 61.9 LD 4.8 km/s
2034-10-04 12:42:00 Earth 0.2542 AU 98.9 LD 10.1 km/s
2034-12-03 04:51:00 Venus 0.1491 AU 58.0 LD 1.8 km/s
2036-11-03 06:32:00 Venus 0.1103 AU 42.9 LD 1.3 km/s
2038-10-04 11:03:00 Venus 0.1422 AU 55.4 LD 2 km/s
2043-07-06 21:10:00 Earth 0.3301 AU 128.5 LD 12.7 km/s
2044-03-27 06:24:00 Earth 0.1571 AU 61.1 LD 3.8 km/s
2044-10-11 17:43:00 Earth 0.0862 AU 33.5 LD 4.3 km/s
2053-07-10 22:57:00 Earth 0.4325 AU 168.3 LD 15.8 km/s

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

Sources