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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 NP

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(2023 NP)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.09 AU
True anomaly
174.13°
Distance from Earth
1.916 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 NP — 1.09 AU from the Sun 2023 NP
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 NP is 1.916 AU from Earth today (15.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 23m 09s
Declination
-14° 01′ 30″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.32° — 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
0.898 AU
Eccentricity
0.2152
Inclination
13.92°
Orbital period
310.8 days
Perihelion
0.705 AU
Aphelion
1.091 AU
Longitude of ascending node
107.3°
Argument of periapsis
331.2°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.1 LD
0.0336 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.582

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
35
Data arc
2 days
First observed
8 July 2023
Last observed
10 July 2023
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 August 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.16

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 98 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 NP at 2028-05-03 08:32 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-03 08:32 UTC close approach of 2023 NP. Catalogue miss distance 165.5 LD · 6.36 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-30 to 2028-05-06, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 165.5 LD · 6.36 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-03 08:32 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-03 08:32 UTC close approach of 2023 NP. Catalogue miss distance 165.5 LD · 6.36 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-30 to 2028-05-06, 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 north of the ecliptic. 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
2028-05-03 08:32:00 Earth 0.4252 AU 165.5 LD 15.8 km/s
2028-12-19 08:07:00 Earth 0.2873 AU 111.8 LD 11.7 km/s
2029-07-15 14:26:00 Earth 0.2511 AU 97.7 LD 13.8 km/s
2034-05-16 22:24:00 Earth 0.2456 AU 95.6 LD 8.2 km/s
2034-11-07 14:33:00 Earth 0.3212 AU 125.0 LD 9.5 km/s
2034-12-17 09:09:00 Venus 0.0483 AU 18.8 LD 9.9 km/s
2040-02-17 05:59:00 Earth 0.2371 AU 92.3 LD 9.5 km/s
2040-06-30 23:53:00 Earth 0.1109 AU 43.2 LD 7.5 km/s
2046-01-13 06:00:00 Venus 0.0538 AU 20.9 LD 10.1 km/s
2046-01-13 07:03:00 Earth 0.2574 AU 100.2 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources