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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 SW

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(2023 SW)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.968 AU
True anomaly
117.34°
Distance from Earth
1.889 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 SW — 0.968 AU from the Sun 2023 SW
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 SW is 1.889 AU from Earth today (15.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 51m 18s
Declination
-09° 38′ 11″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.6° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.929 AU
Eccentricity
0.365
Inclination
14.46°
Orbital period
327.1 days
Perihelion
0.59 AU
Aphelion
1.268 AU
Longitude of ascending node
177.22°
Argument of periapsis
303.74°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.2 LD
0.003 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.362

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
53
Data arc
8 days
First observed
13 September 2023
Last observed
21 September 2023
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 September 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.97

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 155 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 SW at 2030-05-13 17:36 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-13 17:36 UTC close approach of 2023 SW. Catalogue miss distance 85.7 LD · 3.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-10 to 2030-05-16, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 85.7 LD · 3.29 × 10⁷ km 2030-05-13 17:36 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-13 17:36 UTC close approach of 2023 SW. Catalogue miss distance 85.7 LD · 3.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-10 to 2030-05-16, 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 north 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
2030-05-13 17:36:00 Earth 0.2202 AU 85.7 LD 13.2 km/s
2031-02-18 05:49:00 Earth 0.39 AU 151.8 LD 15.7 km/s
2031-08-21 16:43:00 Earth 0.2967 AU 115.5 LD 9.3 km/s
2031-11-25 21:19:00 Earth 0.3733 AU 145.3 LD 9.6 km/s
2032-09-12 09:52:00 Earth 0.2589 AU 100.7 LD 19.4 km/s
2033-11-13 00:01:00 Venus 0.1179 AU 45.9 LD 19.6 km/s
2038-06-05 22:53:00 Earth 0.4595 AU 178.8 LD 23.2 km/s
2039-04-09 13:59:00 Earth 0.269 AU 104.7 LD 11.6 km/s
2040-01-18 22:01:00 Earth 0.4268 AU 166.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2040-09-20 02:56:00 Earth 0.1083 AU 42.1 LD 10.1 km/s

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

Sources