2023 SP3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.7 AU to 1.32 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 372.4 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 10 December 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.907 AU
- True anomaly
- 272.45°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.379 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 07m 09s
- Declination
- -10° 28′ 48″
- Constellation
- Aquila
- Distance from Earth
- 0.38 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 65.84° — 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.
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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
- 1.013 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3051
- Inclination
- 15.13°
- Orbital period
- 372.4 days
- Perihelion
- 0.704 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.322 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 0.94°
- Argument of periapsis
- 106.63°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 0.7 LD
- 0.0019 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.948
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 50
- Data arc
- 12 days
- First observed
- 13 September 2023
- Last observed
- 25 September 2023
- Residual RMS
- 0.56 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 10 December 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.64
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 77 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-04 15:45 UTC close approach of 2023 SP3. Catalogue miss distance 130.1 LD · 5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-01 to 2026-12-07, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-04 15:45:00 | Earth | 0.3344 AU | 130.1 LD | 8.8 km/s |
| 2027-08-08 13:19:00 | Earth | 0.3852 AU | 149.9 LD | 8.4 km/s |
| 2027-12-30 23:48:00 | Earth | 0.3524 AU | 137.1 LD | 10.3 km/s |
| 2028-07-19 12:11:00 | Earth | 0.4182 AU | 162.8 LD | 8.2 km/s |
| 2029-01-21 10:56:00 | Earth | 0.3374 AU | 131.3 LD | 11 km/s |
| 2029-06-28 18:31:00 | Earth | 0.4247 AU | 165.3 LD | 7.6 km/s |
| 2030-02-12 13:52:00 | Earth | 0.2957 AU | 115.1 LD | 10.8 km/s |
| 2030-05-29 19:55:00 | Earth | 0.3979 AU | 154.9 LD | 6.8 km/s |
| 2031-03-07 16:54:00 | Earth | 0.2287 AU | 89.0 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2032-03-27 04:08:00 | Earth | 0.1484 AU | 57.8 LD | 10.3 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