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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2023 WK3

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(2023 WK3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.504 AU
True anomaly
94.67°
Distance from Earth
0.736 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2023 WK3 — 0.504 AU from the Sun 2023 WK3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 WK3 is 0.736 AU from Earth today (6.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 20m 24s
Declination
-01° 37′ 29″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
0.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.56° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.644 AU
Eccentricity
0.4997
Inclination
24.47°
Orbital period
188.9 days
Perihelion
0.322 AU
Aphelion
0.966 AU
Longitude of ascending node
235.04°
Argument of periapsis
11.17°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · IEO
Atira (interior-Earth object)
Earth MOID · 14.6 LD
0.0375 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.632

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
48
Data arc
9.87 years
First observed
17 January 2015
Last observed
1 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 August 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.46

Discovery & classification

Atira Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 52 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 WK3 at 2038-11-26 18:43 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-11-26 18:43 UTC close approach of 2023 WK3. Catalogue miss distance 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-11-23 to 2038-11-29, 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 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km 2038-11-26 18:43 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-11-26 18:43 UTC close approach of 2023 WK3. Catalogue miss distance 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-11-23 to 2038-11-29, 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
2038-11-26 18:43:00 Earth 0.1599 AU 62.2 LD 14.6 km/s
2039-11-20 01:13:00 Earth 0.0376 AU 14.7 LD 14.2 km/s
2040-11-18 01:29:00 Earth 0.1647 AU 64.1 LD 17.7 km/s
2053-11-27 16:59:00 Earth 0.1848 AU 71.9 LD 15 km/s
2054-11-20 20:42:00 Earth 0.0501 AU 19.5 LD 13.9 km/s
2055-11-18 14:13:00 Earth 0.1339 AU 52.1 LD 16.9 km/s
2069-11-22 09:19:00 Earth 0.0807 AU 31.4 LD 13.8 km/s
2070-11-18 08:52:00 Earth 0.0931 AU 36.2 LD 15.8 km/s
2084-11-24 05:27:00 Earth 0.1168 AU 45.4 LD 14 km/s
2085-11-18 14:45:00 Earth 0.0563 AU 21.9 LD 14.9 km/s

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

Sources