2023 KU is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.42 AU to 1.62 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 377.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 July 2025.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.496 AU
- True anomaly
- 199.85°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.211 AU
- As of
- 3 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 16h 56m 35s
- Declination
- -25° 04′ 37″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 2.21 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 33.79° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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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
- 1.022 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.5864
- Inclination
- 3.83°
- Orbital period
- 377.6 days
- Perihelion
- 0.423 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.622 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 27.61°
- Argument of periapsis
- 49.69°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 2.7 LD
- 0.0069 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.806
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 248
- Data arc
- 10.83 years
- First observed
- 29 June 2014
- Last observed
- 28 April 2025
- Residual RMS
- 0.32 ″
- Solution · Giorgini
- 21 July 2025
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 22.28
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 91 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-08-01 10:45 UTC close approach of 2023 KU. Catalogue miss distance 48.9 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-07-29 to 2043-08-04, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2029-03-02 22:09:00 | Venus | 0.1461 AU | 56.8 LD | 28.2 km/s |
| 2032-04-07 06:22:00 | Venus | 0.037 AU | 14.4 LD | 19.4 km/s |
| 2038-12-20 03:31:00 | Mars | 0.0804 AU | 31.3 LD | 10.7 km/s |
| 2043-08-01 10:45:00 | Earth | 0.1257 AU | 48.9 LD | 21.2 km/s |
| 2044-08-07 10:25:00 | Earth | 0.1153 AU | 44.9 LD | 15.3 km/s |
| 2047-12-16 20:21:00 | Venus | 0.0966 AU | 37.6 LD | 16.5 km/s |
| 2051-01-22 15:40:00 | Venus | 0.105 AU | 40.9 LD | 26.2 km/s |
| 2055-01-08 17:42:00 | Venus | 0.0185 AU | 7.2 LD | 22 km/s |
| 2055-04-10 16:54:00 | Earth | 0.0616 AU | 24.0 LD | 16.3 km/s |
| 2056-04-16 14:11:00 | Earth | 0.1335 AU | 52.0 LD | 22 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB