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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 VC1

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(2023 VC1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.85 AU
True anomaly
291.32°
Distance from Earth
1.753 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 VC1 — 0.85 AU from the Sun 2023 VC1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 VC1 is 1.753 AU from Earth today (14.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 40m 11s
Declination
-06° 22′ 47″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.75° — 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
0.908 AU
Eccentricity
0.1354
Inclination
5.51°
Orbital period
316.2 days
Perihelion
0.785 AU
Aphelion
1.031 AU
Longitude of ascending node
217.1°
Argument of periapsis
23.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.1 LD
0.0183 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.553

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
27
Data arc
6 days
First observed
3 November 2023
Last observed
9 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 November 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.36

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 53 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 VC1 at 2029-10-20 09:06 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-20 09:06 UTC close approach of 2023 VC1. Catalogue miss distance 138.9 LD · 5.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-17 to 2029-10-23, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 138.9 LD · 5.34 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-20 09:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-20 09:06 UTC close approach of 2023 VC1. Catalogue miss distance 138.9 LD · 5.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-17 to 2029-10-23, 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. 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
2027-10-01 10:18:00 Venus 0.1322 AU 51.4 LD 5.7 km/s
2029-10-20 09:06:00 Earth 0.357 AU 138.9 LD 14.8 km/s
2030-06-02 17:44:00 Earth 0.2322 AU 90.4 LD 6.9 km/s
2031-01-05 04:31:00 Earth 0.3013 AU 117.3 LD 12.6 km/s
2042-10-17 12:00:00 Earth 0.2667 AU 103.8 LD 12.1 km/s
2043-05-15 20:24:00 Earth 0.2277 AU 88.6 LD 7 km/s
2044-01-01 08:54:00 Earth 0.3954 AU 153.9 LD 15.7 km/s
2046-11-09 14:24:00 Venus 0.1003 AU 39.0 LD 6.1 km/s
2049-07-25 18:50:00 Earth 0.2036 AU 79.2 LD 4.4 km/s
2050-01-04 23:05:00 Earth 0.1 AU 38.9 LD 5 km/s

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

Sources