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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 XH2

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(2023 XH2)

2023 XH2 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.65 AU to 1.32 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 356.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 January 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.063 AU
True anomaly
237.66°
Distance from Earth
0.472 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 XH2 — 1.063 AU from the Sun 2023 XH2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 XH2 is 0.472 AU from Earth today (3.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 12m 30s
Declination
+15° 36′ 23″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.47 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.08° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.984 AU
Eccentricity
0.3426
Inclination
2.65°
Orbital period
356.5 days
Perihelion
0.647 AU
Aphelion
1.321 AU
Longitude of ascending node
71.95°
Argument of periapsis
116.97°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0054 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.104

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
47
Data arc
5 days
First observed
5 December 2023
Last observed
10 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.33

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 107 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 XH2 at 2026-11-24 05:49 UTC Sun 166.2 LD · 6.39 × 10⁷ km 2026-11-24 05:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-11-24 05:49 UTC close approach of 2023 XH2. Catalogue miss distance 166.2 LD · 6.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-11-21 to 2026-11-27, 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
2026-11-24 05:49:00 Earth 0.4271 AU 166.2 LD 23.5 km/s
2027-01-01 01:26:00 Venus 0.0223 AU 8.7 LD 8.4 km/s
2038-11-17 20:46:00 Venus 0.0744 AU 28.9 LD 13 km/s
2043-09-12 07:48:00 Venus 0.0738 AU 28.7 LD 7.8 km/s
2048-07-04 10:46:00 Venus 0.0702 AU 27.3 LD 12.8 km/s
2055-08-11 12:47:00 Earth 0.388 AU 151.0 LD 22 km/s
2056-08-04 23:37:00 Earth 0.2565 AU 99.8 LD 17.9 km/s
2057-07-30 16:41:00 Earth 0.1258 AU 49.0 LD 13.9 km/s
2058-07-26 07:07:00 Earth 0.0387 AU 15.1 LD 10 km/s
2059-07-29 13:21:00 Earth 0.1489 AU 58.0 LD 6.6 km/s

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

Sources