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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 VH7

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(2023 VH7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.003 AU
True anomaly
232.85°
Distance from Earth
1.018 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2023 VH7 — 1.003 AU from the Sun 2023 VH7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 VH7 is 1.018 AU from Earth today (8.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 58m 28s
Declination
+02° 41′ 00″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
1.02 AU
Elongation from the Sun
59.74° — 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
0.96 AU
Eccentricity
0.082
Inclination
13.72°
Orbital period
343.6 days
Perihelion
0.881 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
229.19°
Argument of periapsis
348.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.2 LD
0.0467 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.251

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
36
Data arc
8 days
First observed
10 November 2023
Last observed
18 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 November 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.73

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 93 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 VH7 at 2038-10-20 23:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-10-20 23:45 UTC close approach of 2023 VH7. Catalogue miss distance 105.2 LD · 4.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-10-17 to 2038-10-23, 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. 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 105.2 LD · 4.04 × 10⁷ km 2038-10-20 23:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-10-20 23:45 UTC close approach of 2023 VH7. Catalogue miss distance 105.2 LD · 4.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-10-17 to 2038-10-23, 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. 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
2038-10-20 23:45:00 Earth 0.2703 AU 105.2 LD 10.5 km/s
2039-05-30 13:55:00 Earth 0.1519 AU 59.1 LD 8.2 km/s
2039-11-16 18:34:00 Earth 0.0693 AU 27.0 LD 7.4 km/s
2040-03-25 00:24:00 Earth 0.2117 AU 82.4 LD 8.1 km/s
2040-12-03 23:25:00 Earth 0.3851 AU 149.9 LD 13.9 km/s
2054-10-26 01:36:00 Earth 0.2016 AU 78.4 LD 9.1 km/s
2055-05-16 16:35:00 Earth 0.1302 AU 50.7 LD 8.2 km/s
2055-11-22 13:23:00 Earth 0.1316 AU 51.2 LD 8.1 km/s
2056-12-04 13:16:00 Earth 0.4623 AU 179.9 LD 16.2 km/s
2069-10-13 01:26:00 Earth 0.4376 AU 170.3 LD 14.9 km/s

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

Sources