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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 LM15

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(2018 LM15)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.652 AU
True anomaly
56.81°
Distance from Earth
1.588 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 2018 LM15 — 0.652 AU from the Sun 2018 LM15
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 LM15 is 1.588 AU from Earth today (13.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 52m 11s
Declination
+00° 40′ 02″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
12.18° — 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
0.963 AU
Eccentricity
0.4123
Inclination
31.97°
Orbital period
345.1 days
Perihelion
0.566 AU
Aphelion
1.36 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.54°
Argument of periapsis
56.57°
Epoch · J2000
2458278.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.6 LD
0.0143 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.069

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
28
Data arc
3 days
First observed
9 June 2018
Last observed
12 June 2018
Residual RMS
0.83 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.5

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 10 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 LM15 at 2069-06-17 05:16 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2069-06-17 05:16 UTC close approach of 2018 LM15. Catalogue miss distance 88.5 LD · 3.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2069-06-14 to 2069-06-20, 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 88.5 LD · 3.4 × 10⁷ km 2069-06-17 05:16 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2069-06-17 05:16 UTC close approach of 2018 LM15. Catalogue miss distance 88.5 LD · 3.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2069-06-14 to 2069-06-20, 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
2069-06-17 05:16:00 Earth 0.2273 AU 88.5 LD 24.2 km/s
2070-06-08 03:41:00 Earth 0.0863 AU 33.6 LD 17.8 km/s
2071-06-12 14:22:00 Earth 0.3811 AU 148.3 LD 15.6 km/s
2074-11-05 16:09:00 Earth 0.366 AU 142.4 LD 25 km/s
2074-11-19 09:39:00 Venus 0.0848 AU 33.0 LD 21.1 km/s
2086-06-20 17:06:00 Earth 0.3084 AU 120.0 LD 26.3 km/s
2087-06-10 04:22:00 Earth 0.0142 AU 5.5 LD 19.2 km/s

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

Sources