SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2003 AC23

2003 AC23

2003 AC23 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 2.171 AU it takes 3.20 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 85
Orbital Period · P
3.20 yr
v(q)
39.3 km/s
v(Q)
10.4 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.15 km
TJ
3.45
Eccentricity · e
0.5817

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.908 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 3.434 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 2.526 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 2.171 AU gives an orbital period of 3.20 yr, or about 1,168 days.

The high eccentricity (0.582) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

Its inclination of 2.06° keeps it close to the plane of the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 39.3 km/s at perihelion and falls to 10.4 km/s at aphelion.

Because q < 1 AU and Q > 1 AU, this orbit geometrically intersects the region of Earth's orbit.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 21.9 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.15 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 85 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.4978 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 0 means the orbit is very well determined, leaving only a small uncertainty in the future ephemeris.

About these computed values

Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

Orbital Parameters

Semi-Major Axis
2.171 AU
Eccentricity
0.5817
Perihelion
0.908 AU
Aphelion
3.433871 AU
Inclination
2.06°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
101.31°

Orbit diagram

The Sun sits at the focus (orange). Earth's orbit is the grey circle at 1 AU. The red dot marks the object's position at the catalog epoch.

3D orbit (interactive)

Drag to rotate; scroll or pinch to zoom. The Sun is at the focus (orange), Earth's orbit is the grey ring at 1 AU, and the red dot marks the object's current position.

Close approaches

Predicted close approaches to Earth, from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

Date (UTC)Miss distanceVelocity
2035-Jan-14 13:02 0.171592 AU
25669873 km
16.48 km/s
2051-Jan-01 18:30 0.409002 AU
61185873 km
23.58 km/s
2054-May-27 18:52 0.433107 AU
64791935 km
24.08 km/s
2070-May-23 14:09 0.355573 AU
53192934 km
21.85 km/s

Distances in astronomical units (AU) and kilometres. Source: NASA/JPL CNEOS Close Approach Data API.

Physical Parameters

Diameter
— km
Albedo
—
Density
— g/cm³
Rotation Period
— h
Absolute Magnitude
21.9

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.49783
Condition
0
Orbit ID
—
Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database · NASA CNEOS. Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

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