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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 SM5

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(2023 SM5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.748 AU
True anomaly
72.96°
Distance from Earth
1.723 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 SM5 — 0.748 AU from the Sun 2023 SM5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 SM5 is 1.723 AU from Earth today (14.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 21m 02s
Declination
-09° 35′ 49″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.55° — 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
0.951 AU
Eccentricity
0.3603
Inclination
10.7°
Orbital period
338.7 days
Perihelion
0.608 AU
Aphelion
1.293 AU
Longitude of ascending node
0.33°
Argument of periapsis
118.56°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.8 LD
0.0019 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.256

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
15
Data arc
4 days
First observed
19 September 2023
Last observed
23 September 2023
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
24 September 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.36

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 104 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 SM5 at 2033-05-19 21:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-05-19 21:57 UTC close approach of 2023 SM5. Catalogue miss distance 83.3 LD · 3.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-05-16 to 2033-05-22, 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 83.3 LD · 3.2 × 10⁷ km 2033-05-19 21:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-05-19 21:57 UTC close approach of 2023 SM5. Catalogue miss distance 83.3 LD · 3.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-05-16 to 2033-05-22, 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
2033-05-19 21:57:00 Earth 0.2142 AU 83.3 LD 15.4 km/s
2034-03-26 06:27:00 Earth 0.2818 AU 109.7 LD 10.5 km/s
2034-06-18 23:45:00 Earth 0.3089 AU 120.2 LD 7.5 km/s
2035-01-25 05:27:00 Earth 0.3937 AU 153.2 LD 14.7 km/s
2035-08-23 09:17:00 Earth 0.2776 AU 108.0 LD 8.5 km/s
2035-11-23 17:32:00 Earth 0.3312 AU 128.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2036-09-20 00:16:00 Earth 0.0986 AU 38.4 LD 14.2 km/s
2046-05-14 20:30:00 Earth 0.1624 AU 63.2 LD 12.8 km/s
2047-03-11 11:05:00 Earth 0.321 AU 124.9 LD 12 km/s
2047-07-06 16:06:00 Earth 0.3319 AU 129.2 LD 8.2 km/s

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

Sources