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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 US2

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(2023 US2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.896 AU
True anomaly
118.24°
Distance from Earth
0.565 AU
As of
19 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 US2 — 0.896 AU from the Sun 2023 US2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 US2 is 0.565 AU from Earth today (4.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 54m 38s
Declination
-39° 35′ 12″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.56 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.34° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.843 AU
Eccentricity
0.2807
Inclination
20.11°
Orbital period
282.8 days
Perihelion
0.606 AU
Aphelion
1.08 AU
Longitude of ascending node
22.94°
Argument of periapsis
210.73°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.7 LD
0.0223 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.897

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
21
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
19 October 2023
Last observed
20 October 2023
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 October 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.02

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 51 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 US2 at 2027-05-22 20:25 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-22 20:25 UTC close approach of 2023 US2. Catalogue miss distance 171.2 LD · 6.58 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-19 to 2027-05-25, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 171.2 LD · 6.58 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-22 20:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-22 20:25 UTC close approach of 2023 US2. Catalogue miss distance 171.2 LD · 6.58 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-19 to 2027-05-25, 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 south 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
2027-05-22 20:25:00 Earth 0.4398 AU 171.2 LD 17.3 km/s
2030-10-25 07:47:00 Earth 0.1694 AU 65.9 LD 10.7 km/s
2031-02-23 04:30:00 Earth 0.3357 AU 130.6 LD 13.3 km/s
2033-10-19 06:58:00 Earth 0.3561 AU 138.6 LD 20.6 km/s
2034-04-30 22:58:00 Earth 0.4064 AU 158.1 LD 17.9 km/s
2035-01-22 19:53:00 Venus 0.0862 AU 33.6 LD 15.7 km/s
2037-11-18 17:04:00 Earth 0.3047 AU 118.6 LD 11.4 km/s
2038-03-05 14:24:00 Venus 0.1075 AU 41.8 LD 13.9 km/s
2040-10-14 04:53:00 Earth 0.1555 AU 60.5 LD 15.1 km/s
2041-04-07 23:03:00 Earth 0.3693 AU 143.7 LD 17.1 km/s

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

Sources