Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 LA3

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2021 LA3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.926 AU
True anomaly
251.04°
Distance from Earth
1.044 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 2021 LA3 — 0.926 AU from the Sun 2021 LA3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 LA3 is 1.044 AU from Earth today (8.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 08m 08s
Declination
-41° 23′ 37″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
53.81° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.904 AU
Eccentricity
0.2274
Inclination
23.79°
Orbital period
314.1 days
Perihelion
0.699 AU
Aphelion
1.11 AU
Longitude of ascending node
84.57°
Argument of periapsis
350.06°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 34.3 LD
0.0882 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.497

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
33
Data arc
27 days
First observed
7 June 2021
Last observed
4 July 2021
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.65

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 161 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 LA3 at 2027-01-24 20:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-24 20:15 UTC close approach of 2021 LA3. Catalogue miss distance 130.5 LD · 5.02 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-21 to 2027-01-27, 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 130.5 LD · 5.02 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-24 20:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-24 20:15 UTC close approach of 2021 LA3. Catalogue miss distance 130.5 LD · 5.02 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-21 to 2027-01-27, 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
2027-01-24 20:15:00 Earth 0.3352 AU 130.5 LD 15.8 km/s
2027-06-15 01:48:00 Earth 0.104 AU 40.5 LD 12 km/s
2027-10-13 10:54:00 Earth 0.4093 AU 159.3 LD 12.7 km/s
2028-09-22 20:22:00 Venus 0.1193 AU 46.4 LD 14.5 km/s
2033-02-09 14:44:00 Earth 0.3753 AU 146.0 LD 14.6 km/s
2033-06-09 03:48:00 Earth 0.1667 AU 64.9 LD 12.3 km/s
2033-10-31 19:33:00 Earth 0.3762 AU 146.4 LD 15.3 km/s
2039-06-04 08:25:00 Earth 0.2399 AU 93.4 LD 13 km/s
2039-11-15 10:36:00 Earth 0.3415 AU 132.9 LD 16.3 km/s
2040-06-24 14:52:00 Earth 0.4684 AU 182.3 LD 20.3 km/s

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

Sources