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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 LH5

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(2018 LH5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.44 AU
True anomaly
20.23°
Distance from Earth
1.008 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 LH5 — 0.44 AU from the Sun 2018 LH5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 LH5 is 1.008 AU from Earth today (8.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 52m 32s
Declination
-01° 20′ 02″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.02 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.29° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.808 AU
Eccentricity
0.4659
Inclination
22.78°
Orbital period
265.2 days
Perihelion
0.431 AU
Aphelion
1.184 AU
Longitude of ascending node
273.66°
Argument of periapsis
168.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 48.3 LD
0.124 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.084

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
107
Data arc
8.1 years
First observed
12 June 2018
Last observed
20 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.11

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 LH5 at 2034-07-07 23:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-07 23:18 UTC close approach of 2018 LH5. Catalogue miss distance 48.9 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-04 to 2034-07-10, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 48.9 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km 2034-07-07 23:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-07 23:18 UTC close approach of 2018 LH5. Catalogue miss distance 48.9 LD · 1.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-04 to 2034-07-10, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. 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
2034-07-07 23:18:00 Earth 0.1256 AU 48.9 LD 14.5 km/s
2042-07-10 00:13:00 Earth 0.1421 AU 55.3 LD 15.5 km/s
2050-07-10 22:03:00 Earth 0.1772 AU 69.0 LD 16.9 km/s
2055-06-16 22:35:00 Earth 0.1934 AU 75.3 LD 13.3 km/s
2063-06-22 12:07:00 Earth 0.1743 AU 67.8 LD 13.3 km/s
2071-06-27 18:21:00 Earth 0.1543 AU 60.0 LD 13.4 km/s
2079-07-02 11:02:00 Earth 0.1362 AU 53.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2087-07-06 07:14:00 Earth 0.1256 AU 48.9 LD 14 km/s
2095-07-09 03:40:00 Earth 0.1293 AU 50.3 LD 14.8 km/s
2103-07-11 21:25:00 Earth 0.1513 AU 58.9 LD 15.8 km/s

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

Sources