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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 LM

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(2018 LM)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.899 AU
True anomaly
248.86°
Distance from Earth
0.745 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 LM — 0.899 AU from the Sun 2018 LM
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 LM is 0.745 AU from Earth today (6.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 46m 52s
Declination
-31° 58′ 46″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.2° — well clear of the Sun

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.

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
0.869 AU
Eccentricity
0.1971
Inclination
7.09°
Orbital period
296 days
Perihelion
0.698 AU
Aphelion
1.041 AU
Longitude of ascending node
72.18°
Argument of periapsis
20.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.3 LD
0.0084 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.781

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
103
Data arc
28 days
First observed
28 May 2018
Last observed
25 June 2018
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.28

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 59 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 LM at 2027-01-11 08:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-11 08:15 UTC close approach of 2018 LM. Catalogue miss distance 111.8 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-08 to 2027-01-14, 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 111.8 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-11 08:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-11 08:15 UTC close approach of 2018 LM. Catalogue miss distance 111.8 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-08 to 2027-01-14, 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
2027-01-11 08:15:00 Earth 0.2872 AU 111.8 LD 9.1 km/s
2027-07-18 12:19:00 Earth 0.3846 AU 149.7 LD 15.1 km/s
2031-03-18 09:19:00 Earth 0.2243 AU 87.3 LD 3.5 km/s
2031-07-16 06:02:00 Earth 0.1136 AU 44.2 LD 5.9 km/s
2031-12-07 12:17:00 Venus 0.1325 AU 51.6 LD 10.8 km/s
2034-03-31 10:49:00 Venus 0.0085 AU 3.3 LD 5 km/s
2035-05-23 02:29:00 Earth 0.1257 AU 48.9 LD 8.1 km/s
2039-06-01 08:12:00 Earth 0.4441 AU 172.8 LD 17.7 km/s

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

Sources