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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2003 AF23

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(2003 AF23)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.144 AU
True anomaly
151.53°
Distance from Earth
1.564 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2003 AF23 — 1.144 AU from the Sun 2003 AF23
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2003 AF23 is 1.564 AU from Earth today (13.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 41m 58s
Declination
+03° 26′ 46″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
1.56 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.95° — 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
0.874 AU
Eccentricity
0.4259
Inclination
23.23°
Orbital period
298.7 days
Perihelion
0.502 AU
Aphelion
1.247 AU
Longitude of ascending node
286.74°
Argument of periapsis
43.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.6 LD
0.0325 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.632

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
463
Data arc
23.02 years
First observed
8 January 2003
Last observed
14 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
19.89 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.01

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2003 AF23 at 2030-01-04 03:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-01-04 03:41 UTC close approach of 2003 AF23. Catalogue miss distance 27.2 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-01-01 to 2030-01-07, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 27.2 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km 2030-01-04 03:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-01-04 03:41 UTC close approach of 2003 AF23. Catalogue miss distance 27.2 LD · 1.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-01-01 to 2030-01-07, 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. 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
2030-01-04 03:41:00 Earth 0.0698 AU 27.2 LD 15.3 km/s
2039-01-05 01:52:00 Earth 0.11 AU 42.8 LD 14.5 km/s
2046-11-27 17:47:00 Venus 0.1493 AU 58.1 LD 22.4 km/s
2048-01-06 23:07:00 Earth 0.156 AU 60.7 LD 13.9 km/s
2079-01-07 05:12:00 Earth 0.141 AU 54.9 LD 19.9 km/s
2088-01-06 04:27:00 Earth 0.0883 AU 34.4 LD 18.5 km/s
2097-01-04 15:57:00 Earth 0.0509 AU 19.8 LD 17.4 km/s
2104-02-15 07:54:00 Venus 0.1492 AU 58.0 LD 22.3 km/s
2106-01-05 16:43:00 Earth 0.0383 AU 14.9 LD 17 km/s
2106-07-29 07:44:00 Venus 0.1488 AU 57.9 LD 23 km/s

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

Sources