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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 SZ

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(2023 SZ)

2023 SZ is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.94 AU to 1.04 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 359.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 19 September 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.951 AU
True anomaly
317.42°
Distance from Earth
0.269 AU
As of
2 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2023 SZ — 0.951 AU from the Sun 2023 SZ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 SZ is 0.269 AU from Earth today (2.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 33m 24s
Declination
-10° 13′ 13″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
0.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.33° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.99 AU
Eccentricity
0.0524
Inclination
8.04°
Orbital period
359.9 days
Perihelion
0.938 AU
Aphelion
1.042 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.92°
Argument of periapsis
275.67°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.1 LD
0.0106 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.118

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
25
Data arc
3 days
First observed
16 September 2023
Last observed
19 September 2023
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 September 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.87

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 SZ at 2027-09-04 08:29 UTC Sun 124.8 LD · 4.8 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-04 08:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-04 08:29 UTC close approach of 2023 SZ. Catalogue miss distance 124.8 LD · 4.8 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-01 to 2027-09-07, 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
2027-09-04 08:29:00 Earth 0.3206 AU 124.8 LD 11.3 km/s
2028-08-28 18:28:00 Earth 0.4147 AU 161.4 LD 13.9 km/s
2081-04-25 15:55:00 Earth 0.4373 AU 170.2 LD 14.6 km/s
2082-04-19 09:04:00 Earth 0.3426 AU 133.3 LD 11.9 km/s
2083-04-12 23:14:00 Earth 0.2489 AU 96.9 LD 9.4 km/s
2084-04-05 12:48:00 Earth 0.1577 AU 61.4 LD 7.1 km/s
2085-03-30 01:45:00 Earth 0.0722 AU 28.1 LD 5.3 km/s
2085-10-03 02:26:00 Earth 0.1735 AU 67.5 LD 5.8 km/s
2086-03-23 22:47:00 Earth 0.0128 AU 5.0 LD 4.4 km/s
2086-10-01 00:55:00 Earth 0.1146 AU 44.6 LD 4.7 km/s

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

Sources