About 2003 EM1
2003 EM1 is a rare neo. It swings within 0.906 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
Rare neo 43 EP
2003 EM1
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Spinning past the rubble-pile limit +22
- Crosses Earth's orbit +8
- Aten: mostly inside Earth's orbit +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 43
7 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
- Catalogue designation only
- Aten: mostly inside Earth's orbit · +8
- Spinning past the rubble-pile limit · +22
Trivia
What makes it special
- It crosses our path. Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Aten-class object, spending most of its time inside Earth's orbit and crossing ours from the sunward side — which makes this family wretchedly hard to spot against the daylight.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.91 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Earth.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 342 days.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.91 and 1.01 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 0.4 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.03 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
By the numbers
- Estimated size. Nobody has measured its size directly. Assuming it reflects light like a typical asteroid, its brightness implies something roughly 45 metres across.
Properties
- aphelion au
- 1.01
- designation
- 2003 EM1
- eccentricity
- 0.0525
- full name
- (2003 EM1)
- h mag
- 24.5
- inclination
- 15.26
- mean motion deg day
- 1.053
- moid au
- 0.0103
- name
- 2003 EM1
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- ATE
- perihelion au
- 0.906
- rotation period h
- 0.031
- semi major au
- 0.9567
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 2003 EM1 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why 2003 EM1 is a rare neo
2003 EM1 scores 43 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Near-Earth object, Crosses Earth's orbit, Catalogue designation only, Aten: mostly inside Earth's orbit and Spinning past the rubble-pile limit — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.