About A/2023 R3
A/2023 R3 is a rare asteroid. It swings within 1.358 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
At its nearest it comes within 1.36 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mars.
Rare asteroid 45 EP
A/2023 R3
Position computed live · sbdb
Loading sky survey…
Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) +18
- Unbound (hyperbolic) orbit +16
- Wildly elliptical orbit +10
- Asteroid +1
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 45
5 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Asteroid · +1
- Wildly elliptical orbit · +10
- Unbound (hyperbolic) orbit · +16
- Catalogue designation only
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) · +18
Trivia
What it actually is
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 1.36 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mars.
- One-way trip. On a hyperbolic path — it will leave the Solar System and never return.
- Ancient. A leftover from the Solar System's birth, older than every continent on Earth.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 3.4 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.22 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 362 metres across.
What's in a name
- Designation. Known only by its catalogue designation — no name yet.
Properties
- designation
- 2023 R3
- eccentricity
- 1.0001
- full name
- (A/2023 R3)
- h mag
- 19.96
- inclination
- 12.11
- mean motion deg day
- 0
- moid au
- 0.446
- name
- A/2023 R3
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- HYA
- perihelion au
- 1.358
- semi major au
- -15680
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, A/2023 R3 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 A/2023 R3 is a rare asteroid
A/2023 R3 scores 45 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Asteroid, Wildly elliptical orbit, Unbound (hyperbolic) orbit, Catalogue designation only and Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) — 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.