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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 VR1

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(2023 VR1)

2023 VR1 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.71 AU to 1.36 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 385.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 18 November 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.749 AU
True anomaly
36.56°
Distance from Earth
1.087 AU
As of
4 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 VR1 — 0.749 AU from the Sun 2023 VR1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 VR1 is 1.087 AU from Earth today (9.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 35m 57s
Declination
-21° 33′ 41″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.99° — 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
1.037 AU
Eccentricity
0.3113
Inclination
2.71°
Orbital period
385.7 days
Perihelion
0.714 AU
Aphelion
1.36 AU
Longitude of ascending node
216.88°
Argument of periapsis
73.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 1.9 LD
0.005 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.865

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
33
Data arc
9 days
First observed
4 November 2023
Last observed
13 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 November 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.83

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 22 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 VR1 at 2038-03-20 08:45 UTC Sun 89.4 LD · 3.44 × 10⁷ km 2038-03-20 08:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-03-20 08:45 UTC close approach of 2023 VR1. Catalogue miss distance 89.4 LD · 3.44 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-03-17 to 2038-03-23, 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
2027-10-13 13:40:00 Venus 0.1416 AU 55.1 LD 13.9 km/s
2035-03-04 15:18:00 Venus 0.0964 AU 37.5 LD 11.7 km/s
2038-03-20 08:45:00 Earth 0.2297 AU 89.4 LD 16.9 km/s
2039-04-03 19:08:00 Earth 0.1152 AU 44.8 LD 6.7 km/s
2042-10-23 07:23:00 Earth 0.0427 AU 16.6 LD 8.8 km/s
2043-11-05 19:52:00 Earth 0.2882 AU 112.2 LD 18.7 km/s
2049-12-05 10:48:00 Venus 0.1433 AU 55.8 LD 14 km/s

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

Sources