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Asteroid Near-Earth

2003 EM1

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(2003 EM1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.987 AU
True anomaly
231.03°
Distance from Earth
1.897 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 2003 EM1 — 0.987 AU from the Sun 2003 EM1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2003 EM1 is 1.897 AU from Earth today (15.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 40m 28s
Declination
-23° 35′ 52″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.9 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.75° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.957 AU
Eccentricity
0.0525
Inclination
15.26°
Orbital period
341.8 days
Perihelion
0.906 AU
Aphelion
1.007 AU
Longitude of ascending node
345.91°
Argument of periapsis
23.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.0 LD
0.0103 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.265

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
243
Data arc
8 days
First observed
5 March 2003
Last observed
13 March 2003
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.03 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 80 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2003 EM1 at 2032-03-05 20:59 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-03-05 20:59 UTC close approach of 2003 EM1. Catalogue miss distance 68.8 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-03-02 to 2032-03-08, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 68.8 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km 2032-03-05 20:59 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-03-05 20:59 UTC close approach of 2003 EM1. Catalogue miss distance 68.8 LD · 2.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-03-02 to 2032-03-08, 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 north 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
2032-03-05 20:59:00 Earth 0.1768 AU 68.8 LD 9.7 km/s
2032-09-08 06:27:00 Earth 0.0968 AU 37.7 LD 8.5 km/s
2033-03-08 17:54:00 Earth 0.21 AU 81.7 LD 10 km/s
2046-03-08 14:51:00 Earth 0.4051 AU 157.6 LD 14.9 km/s
2046-10-12 21:19:00 Earth 0.2187 AU 85.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2047-03-06 22:46:00 Earth 0.0185 AU 7.2 LD 7.9 km/s
2047-08-18 01:27:00 Earth 0.1648 AU 64.1 LD 9.1 km/s
2048-03-09 19:09:00 Earth 0.3556 AU 138.4 LD 13.2 km/s
2061-03-10 00:03:00 Earth 0.4783 AU 186.2 LD 16.8 km/s
2061-10-27 23:12:00 Earth 0.2823 AU 109.8 LD 9.9 km/s

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

Sources