2023 QB2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.8 AU to 1.22 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 371.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 3 September 2023.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.87 AU
- True anomaly
- 302.73°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.309 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 27m 29s
- Declination
- -03° 15′ 15″
- Constellation
- Serpens
- Distance from Earth
- 0.31 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 58.02° — 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.
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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
- 1.012 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2088
- Inclination
- 8.65°
- Orbital period
- 371.9 days
- Perihelion
- 0.801 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.223 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 332.06°
- Argument of periapsis
- 110.67°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 7.8 LD
- 0.0201 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.994
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 36
- Data arc
- 15 days
- First observed
- 19 August 2023
- Last observed
- 3 September 2023
- Residual RMS
- 0.35 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 3 September 2023
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.25
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 49 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-10 12:16 UTC close approach of 2023 QB2. Catalogue miss distance 87.4 LD · 3.36 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-07 to 2026-12-13, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-10 12:16:00 | Earth | 0.2245 AU | 87.4 LD | 6.5 km/s |
| 2027-06-10 14:14:00 | Earth | 0.2628 AU | 102.3 LD | 5.5 km/s |
| 2028-01-08 22:53:00 | Earth | 0.2003 AU | 78.0 LD | 6.7 km/s |
| 2028-05-12 07:46:00 | Earth | 0.25 AU | 97.3 LD | 4.9 km/s |
| 2029-02-08 14:12:00 | Earth | 0.1426 AU | 55.5 LD | 6 km/s |
| 2030-03-06 03:32:00 | Earth | 0.0658 AU | 25.6 LD | 6.7 km/s |
| 2031-03-17 05:31:00 | Earth | 0.0949 AU | 36.9 LD | 9.2 km/s |
| 2032-03-24 00:33:00 | Earth | 0.2002 AU | 77.9 LD | 12.3 km/s |
| 2033-02-02 05:38:00 | Venus | 0.1262 AU | 49.1 LD | 7.2 km/s |
| 2033-03-30 17:41:00 | Earth | 0.3138 AU | 122.1 LD | 15.6 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