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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 MB3

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(2023 MB3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.068 AU
True anomaly
144.82°
Distance from Earth
1.678 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2023 MB3 — 1.068 AU from the Sun 2023 MB3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 MB3 is 1.678 AU from Earth today (14.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 11m 21s
Declination
-20° 25′ 12″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.08° — 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.

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
0.879 AU
Eccentricity
0.3181
Inclination
5.92°
Orbital period
301.2 days
Perihelion
0.6 AU
Aphelion
1.159 AU
Longitude of ascending node
268.73°
Argument of periapsis
225.14°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.4 LD
0.001 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.693

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
13
Data arc
2 days
First observed
21 June 2023
Last observed
23 June 2023
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 June 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
30

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 112 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 MB3 at 2028-04-14 07:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-14 07:08 UTC close approach of 2023 MB3. Catalogue miss distance 119.7 LD · 4.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-11 to 2028-04-17, 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 119.7 LD · 4.6 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-14 07:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-14 07:08 UTC close approach of 2023 MB3. Catalogue miss distance 119.7 LD · 4.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-11 to 2028-04-17, 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
2028-02-02 12:00:00 Venus 0.0955 AU 37.2 LD 15.1 km/s
2028-04-14 07:08:00 Earth 0.3075 AU 119.7 LD 7.6 km/s
2028-08-11 14:19:00 Earth 0.1669 AU 64.9 LD 6.7 km/s
2028-11-16 11:34:00 Earth 0.2621 AU 102.0 LD 6.8 km/s
2030-07-26 15:55:00 Venus 0.0387 AU 15.1 LD 11.5 km/s
2032-07-01 02:57:00 Earth 0.402 AU 156.4 LD 20.8 km/s
2033-01-22 01:25:00 Venus 0.082 AU 31.9 LD 9.5 km/s
2033-02-24 12:15:00 Earth 0.386 AU 150.2 LD 13.4 km/s
2033-09-25 23:57:00 Earth 0.1377 AU 53.6 LD 11.1 km/s
2035-07-26 22:57:00 Venus 0.1279 AU 49.8 LD 9.9 km/s

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

Sources