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Asteroid Near-Earth

2023 XZ2

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(2023 XZ2)

2023 XZ2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.82 AU to 1.22 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 375.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 31 December 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.178 AU
True anomaly
210.39°
Distance from Earth
0.428 AU
As of
3 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 XZ2 — 1.178 AU from the Sun 2023 XZ2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 XZ2 is 0.428 AU from Earth today (3.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 24m 19s
Declination
-28° 13′ 41″
Constellation
Piscis Austrinus
Distance from Earth
0.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun
104.84° — 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
1.019 AU
Eccentricity
0.1949
Inclination
7.32°
Orbital period
375.6 days
Perihelion
0.82 AU
Aphelion
1.217 AU
Longitude of ascending node
78.46°
Argument of periapsis
92.65°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 0.9 LD
0.0022 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.968

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
36
Data arc
8 days
First observed
5 December 2023
Last observed
13 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.67

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 67 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2023 XZ2 at 2027-05-20 22:25 UTC Sun 54.0 LD · 2.08 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-20 22:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-20 22:25 UTC close approach of 2023 XZ2. Catalogue miss distance 54.0 LD · 2.08 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-17 to 2027-05-23, 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
2027-05-20 22:25:00 Earth 0.1389 AU 54.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2028-06-20 12:08:00 Earth 0.0373 AU 14.5 LD 7.5 km/s
2029-06-30 13:01:00 Earth 0.2104 AU 81.9 LD 12.4 km/s
2030-07-09 12:13:00 Earth 0.3905 AU 152.0 LD 17.6 km/s
2031-05-23 20:44:00 Venus 0.1282 AU 49.9 LD 1 km/s
2034-06-05 00:48:00 Venus 0.116 AU 45.2 LD 0.7 km/s
2055-11-22 11:12:00 Earth 0.4732 AU 184.2 LD 20.5 km/s
2056-11-30 01:50:00 Earth 0.2851 AU 111.0 LD 14.9 km/s
2057-12-08 10:39:00 Earth 0.0944 AU 36.8 LD 9.4 km/s
2058-12-13 11:37:00 Earth 0.0924 AU 36.0 LD 4.8 km/s

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

Sources