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Asteroid Near-Earth

2013 AF53

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(2013 AF53)

2013 AF53 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.8 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 361.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.049 AU
True anomaly
242.67°
Distance from Earth
0.959 AU
As of
2 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2013 AF53 — 1.049 AU from the Sun 2013 AF53
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2013 AF53 is 0.959 AU from Earth today (8.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 28m 06s
Declination
+06° 49′ 38″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.97° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.993 AU
Eccentricity
0.1945
Inclination
12.94°
Orbital period
361.2 days
Perihelion
0.8 AU
Aphelion
1.186 AU
Longitude of ascending node
107.28°
Argument of periapsis
105.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.4 LD
0.019 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.077

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
26
Data arc
3 days
First observed
9 January 2013
Last observed
12 January 2013
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 46 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2013 AF53 at 2106-01-12 05:31 UTC Sun 17.1 LD · 6.56 × 10⁶ km 2106-01-12 05:31 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2106-01-12 05:31 UTC close approach of 2013 AF53. Catalogue miss distance 17.1 LD · 6.56 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2106-01-09 to 2106-01-15, 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
2032-02-05 20:23:00 Venus 0.1483 AU 57.7 LD 5.8 km/s
2106-01-12 05:31:00 Earth 0.0438 AU 17.1 LD 8.2 km/s
2107-01-12 08:43:00 Earth 0.0235 AU 9.1 LD 9.2 km/s
2108-01-11 13:36:00 Earth 0.0744 AU 28.9 LD 10.5 km/s
2109-01-09 01:21:00 Earth 0.1384 AU 53.9 LD 12.1 km/s
2196-01-12 20:25:00 Earth 0.0345 AU 13.4 LD 8.4 km/s
2197-01-11 18:09:00 Earth 0.0339 AU 13.2 LD 9.5 km/s
2198-01-10 18:34:00 Earth 0.0915 AU 35.6 LD 10.9 km/s
2199-01-09 03:07:00 Earth 0.1572 AU 61.2 LD 12.6 km/s
2200-01-07 02:41:00 Earth 0.2253 AU 87.7 LD 14.5 km/s

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

Sources