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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 BA4

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(2023 BA4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.731 AU
True anomaly
108.64°
Distance from Earth
0.672 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2023 BA4 — 0.731 AU from the Sun 2023 BA4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 BA4 is 0.672 AU from Earth today (5.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 23m 04s
Declination
+02° 17′ 15″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
0.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.3° — 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
0.75 AU
Eccentricity
0.3776
Inclination
7.29°
Orbital period
237 days
Perihelion
0.466 AU
Aphelion
1.033 AU
Longitude of ascending node
131.71°
Argument of periapsis
184.79°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.4 LD
0.0344 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.639

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
68
Data arc
7 days
First observed
25 January 2023
Last observed
1 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.78

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 45 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 BA4 at 2027-02-20 21:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-20 21:49 UTC close approach of 2023 BA4. Catalogue miss distance 178.4 LD · 6.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-17 to 2027-02-23, 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 178.4 LD · 6.86 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-20 21:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-20 21:49 UTC close approach of 2023 BA4. Catalogue miss distance 178.4 LD · 6.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-17 to 2027-02-23, 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
2027-02-20 21:49:00 Earth 0.4585 AU 178.4 LD 23.8 km/s
2028-02-01 11:15:00 Venus 0.1285 AU 50.0 LD 8.8 km/s
2032-01-18 08:15:00 Earth 0.3891 AU 151.4 LD 21.4 km/s
2034-01-11 09:58:00 Earth 0.0942 AU 36.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2036-12-11 21:00:00 Venus 0.1246 AU 48.5 LD 19.3 km/s
2038-02-27 00:44:00 Earth 0.2786 AU 108.4 LD 17.5 km/s
2038-05-08 22:19:00 Merc 0.073 AU 28.4 LD 13.5 km/s
2038-05-08 22:19:00 Mercury 0.073 AU 28.4 LD 13.5 km/s
2040-05-29 13:04:00 Venus 0.1162 AU 45.2 LD 18.2 km/s
2045-01-13 15:29:00 Earth 0.273 AU 106.2 LD 17.4 km/s

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

Sources