2023 MJ is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.94 AU to 1.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 382.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 January 2025.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.943 AU
- True anomaly
- 336.12°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.868 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
- 18h 56m 42s
- Declination
- -39° 00′ 29″
- Constellation
- Corona Australis
- Distance from Earth
- 0.87 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 60.52° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
From your location
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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
- 1.031 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0921
- Inclination
- 15.39°
- Orbital period
- 382.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.936 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.126 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 97.01°
- Argument of periapsis
- 276.99°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 6.4 LD
- 0.0164 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.901
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 52
- Data arc
- 578 days
- First observed
- 17 June 2023
- Last observed
- 15 January 2025
- Residual RMS
- 0.43 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 17 January 2025
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 23.66
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 34 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2045-06-30 07:44 UTC close approach of 2023 MJ. Catalogue miss distance 8.79 LD · 3.38 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2045-06-27 to 2045-07-03, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2045-06-30 07:44:00 | Earth | 0.0226 AU | 8.8 LD | 8.2 km/s |
| 2046-12-27 19:46:00 | Earth | 0.0813 AU | 31.7 LD | 9.5 km/s |
| 2066-06-29 13:12:00 | Earth | 0.0421 AU | 16.4 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2067-12-27 15:21:00 | Earth | 0.0294 AU | 11.4 LD | 8.7 km/s |
| 2087-06-27 17:56:00 | Earth | 0.1332 AU | 51.8 LD | 10.2 km/s |
| 2088-06-29 20:55:00 | Earth | 0.1654 AU | 64.4 LD | 8 km/s |
| 2088-12-26 20:38:00 | Earth | 0.0754 AU | 29.4 LD | 8.1 km/s |
| 2109-07-01 00:22:00 | Earth | 0.0191 AU | 7.4 LD | 8.4 km/s |
| 2110-12-28 20:05:00 | Earth | 0.0471 AU | 18.3 LD | 9 km/s |
| 2130-06-27 10:19:00 | Earth | 0.1763 AU | 68.6 LD | 11.1 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