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Asteroid Near-Earth

2003 LH

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(2003 LH)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.879 AU
True anomaly
62.12°
Distance from Earth
1.837 AU
As of
22 October 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2003 LH — 0.879 AU from the Sun 2003 LH
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2003 LH is 1.837 AU from Earth today (15.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 08m 50s
Declination
-12° 02′ 09″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
10.57° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.962 AU
Eccentricity
0.149
Inclination
10.8°
Orbital period
344.4 days
Perihelion
0.818 AU
Aphelion
1.105 AU
Longitude of ascending node
247.12°
Argument of periapsis
238.78°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.8 LD
0.0047 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.246

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
50
Data arc
59 days
First observed
2 June 2003
Last observed
31 July 2003
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.2

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 53 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2003 LH at 2035-06-03 07:28 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-06-03 07:28 UTC close approach of 2003 LH. Catalogue miss distance 94.7 LD · 3.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-05-31 to 2035-06-06, 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. Sun 94.7 LD · 3.64 × 10⁷ km 2035-06-03 07:28 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-06-03 07:28 UTC close approach of 2003 LH. Catalogue miss distance 94.7 LD · 3.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-05-31 to 2035-06-06, 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
2035-06-03 07:28:00 Earth 0.2434 AU 94.7 LD 12.3 km/s
2036-06-01 03:46:00 Earth 0.0981 AU 38.2 LD 5.6 km/s
2036-12-23 02:27:00 Earth 0.1748 AU 68.0 LD 6.9 km/s
2037-10-22 12:31:00 Earth 0.1698 AU 66.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2038-09-25 23:08:00 Earth 0.4882 AU 190.0 LD 18.6 km/s
2051-06-09 05:05:00 Earth 0.3904 AU 151.9 LD 16.4 km/s
2052-05-27 18:18:00 Earth 0.0438 AU 17.0 LD 7.4 km/s
2053-02-02 09:31:00 Earth 0.2286 AU 89.0 LD 5.8 km/s
2053-11-13 15:25:00 Earth 0.0964 AU 37.5 LD 7 km/s
2054-10-07 15:37:00 Earth 0.3314 AU 129.0 LD 14 km/s

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

Sources