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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 SQ

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(2023 SQ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.007 AU
True anomaly
200.52°
Distance from Earth
0.199 AU
As of
17 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 SQ — 1.007 AU from the Sun 2023 SQ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 SQ is 0.199 AU from Earth today (1.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 46m 50s
Declination
+02° 18′ 55″
Constellation
Canis Minor
Distance from Earth
0.2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
87.08° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.815 AU
Eccentricity
0.2636
Inclination
5.73°
Orbital period
268.8 days
Perihelion
0.6 AU
Aphelion
1.03 AU
Longitude of ascending node
177.44°
Argument of periapsis
17.38°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0054 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.143

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
216
Data arc
19 days
First observed
17 September 2023
Last observed
6 October 2023
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.03

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 104 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 SQ at 2026-11-08 02:06 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-08 02:06 UTC close approach of 2023 SQ. Catalogue miss distance 72.5 LD · 2.79 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-05 to 2026-11-11, 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 72.5 LD · 2.79 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-08 02:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-08 02:06 UTC close approach of 2023 SQ. Catalogue miss distance 72.5 LD · 2.79 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-05 to 2026-11-11, 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
2026-11-08 02:06:00 Earth 0.1863 AU 72.5 LD 10.9 km/s
2027-02-05 08:16:00 Venus 0.1215 AU 47.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2029-05-02 18:56:00 Earth 0.3967 AU 154.4 LD 13 km/s
2030-09-28 01:38:00 Venus 0.1185 AU 46.1 LD 8.8 km/s
2032-03-23 06:21:00 Earth 0.3942 AU 153.4 LD 13.6 km/s
2034-05-15 12:33:00 Venus 0.0978 AU 38.0 LD 7.4 km/s
2034-09-12 01:45:00 Earth 0.2024 AU 78.8 LD 12.2 km/s
2035-02-08 01:14:00 Earth 0.3312 AU 128.9 LD 9.6 km/s
2037-10-17 05:05:00 Earth 0.0555 AU 21.6 LD 5.4 km/s
2038-01-10 14:13:00 Venus 0.0987 AU 38.4 LD 10.8 km/s

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

Sources