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Asteroid Near-Earth

6053

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6053 (1993 BW3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.971 AU
True anomaly
246.06°
Distance from Earth
2.315 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 6053 — 1.971 AU from the Sun 6053
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 6053 is 2.315 AU from Earth today (19.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 51m 37s
Declination
-33° 52′ 39″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
2.32 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.36° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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
2.147 AU
Eccentricity
0.5283
Inclination
21.58°
Orbital period
3.15 years
Perihelion
1.013 AU
Aphelion
3.282 AU
Longitude of ascending node
318.21°
Argument of periapsis
74.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 86.6 LD
0.2226 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.438

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,318
Data arc
50.11 years
First observed
4 June 1976
Last observed
13 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 July 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.86 km
Rotation period
2.57 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.14
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.1
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
McNaught, R. H.
Discovery date
30 January 1993
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 1993 BW3

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2049-07-27 23:55:00 Mars 0.0956 AU 37.2 LD 13.2 km/s
2059-01-01 19:14:00 Mars 0.06 AU 23.3 LD 15 km/s
2137-02-10 21:54:00 Mars 0.0535 AU 20.8 LD 14.6 km/s

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

Sources