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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 PU23

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(2018 PU23)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.967 AU
True anomaly
97.14°
Distance from Earth
1.961 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 2018 PU23 — 0.967 AU from the Sun 2018 PU23
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 PU23 is 1.961 AU from Earth today (16.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 57m 49s
Declination
-11° 37′ 50″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
1.32° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.964 AU
Eccentricity
0.0841
Inclination
0.83°
Orbital period
345.4 days
Perihelion
0.883 AU
Aphelion
1.044 AU
Longitude of ascending node
144.63°
Argument of periapsis
330.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.2 LD
0.0056 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.258

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
16
Data arc
8 days
First observed
11 August 2018
Last observed
19 August 2018
Residual RMS
0.23 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.1

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 PU23 at 2034-06-07 01:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-06-07 01:45 UTC close approach of 2018 PU23. Catalogue miss distance 152.0 LD · 5.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-06-04 to 2034-06-10, 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 152.0 LD · 5.84 × 10⁷ km 2034-06-07 01:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-06-07 01:45 UTC close approach of 2018 PU23. Catalogue miss distance 152.0 LD · 5.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-06-04 to 2034-06-10, 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
2034-06-07 01:45:00 Earth 0.3907 AU 152.0 LD 13.3 km/s
2035-05-24 10:46:00 Earth 0.062 AU 24.1 LD 3.6 km/s
2036-01-03 23:58:00 Earth 0.0966 AU 37.6 LD 2.6 km/s
2036-09-14 01:04:00 Earth 0.138 AU 53.7 LD 5.9 km/s
2037-08-29 23:28:00 Earth 0.4553 AU 177.2 LD 15.3 km/s
2052-06-10 02:14:00 Earth 0.4614 AU 179.6 LD 15.4 km/s
2053-05-26 16:19:00 Earth 0.1463 AU 56.9 LD 6.1 km/s
2054-09-16 15:54:00 Earth 0.0542 AU 21.1 LD 3.4 km/s
2055-09-02 14:32:00 Earth 0.3911 AU 152.2 LD 13.4 km/s

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

Sources