2002 LW is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.91 AU to 1.12 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 374.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.119 AU
- True anomaly
- 186.3°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.079 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 13h 53m 05s
- Declination
- -16° 17′ 51″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 2.08 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 10.62° — too close to the Sun to observe
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.
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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
- 1.016 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1017
- Inclination
- 11.17°
- Orbital period
- 374.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.913 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.12 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 250.1°
- Argument of periapsis
- 126.13°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 13.3 LD
- 0.0341 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.983
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 65
- Data arc
- 3.56 years
- First observed
- 2 June 2002
- Last observed
- 25 December 2005
- Residual RMS
- 0.51 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 14 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 22.4
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 69 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2041-06-06 13:33 UTC close approach of 2002 LW. Catalogue miss distance 158.2 LD · 6.08 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2041-06-03 to 2041-06-09, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2041-06-06 13:33:00 | Earth | 0.4066 AU | 158.2 LD | 15.7 km/s |
| 2042-06-10 11:58:00 | Earth | 0.2617 AU | 101.9 LD | 11.7 km/s |
| 2043-06-11 19:13:00 | Earth | 0.1227 AU | 47.8 LD | 8.2 km/s |
| 2044-06-05 12:07:00 | Earth | 0.0547 AU | 21.3 LD | 6.1 km/s |
| 2045-05-16 13:12:00 | Earth | 0.1544 AU | 60.1 LD | 5.8 km/s |
| 2045-11-13 07:03:00 | Earth | 0.1373 AU | 53.4 LD | 6.2 km/s |
| 2046-12-07 12:29:00 | Earth | 0.0343 AU | 13.4 LD | 6.8 km/s |
| 2047-12-20 16:30:00 | Earth | 0.1634 AU | 63.6 LD | 9.7 km/s |
| 2048-12-29 15:54:00 | Earth | 0.3188 AU | 124.1 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2050-01-07 12:59:00 | Earth | 0.4749 AU | 184.8 LD | 18.2 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB