2023 SM3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.71 AU to 1.36 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 384.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 September 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.024 AU
- True anomaly
- 106.33°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.943 AU
- As of
- 3 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 19h 11m 23s
- Declination
- -24° 04′ 23″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 0.95 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 64.03° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 1.034 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3111
- Inclination
- 13.28°
- Orbital period
- 384.1 days
- Perihelion
- 0.712 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.356 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 352.77°
- Argument of periapsis
- 246.27°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2460207.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 13.2 LD
- 0.0339 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.857
Orbit quality
Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).
- Observations used
- 16
- Data arc
- 2 days
- First observed
- 19 September 2023
- Last observed
- 21 September 2023
- Residual RMS
- 0.25 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 21 September 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.71
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 7 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2145-09-09 19:29 UTC close approach of 2023 SM3. Catalogue miss distance 13.6 LD · 5.21 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2145-09-06 to 2145-09-12, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2145-09-09 19:29:00 | Earth | 0.0348 AU | 13.6 LD | 11.4 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB