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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 LO3

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(2021 LO3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.753 AU
True anomaly
114.43°
Distance from Earth
1.738 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 2021 LO3 — 0.753 AU from the Sun 2021 LO3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 LO3 is 1.738 AU from Earth today (14.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 07m 29s
Declination
-06° 51′ 39″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.63° — 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
0.789 AU
Eccentricity
0.4884
Inclination
3.96°
Orbital period
255.9 days
Perihelion
0.404 AU
Aphelion
1.174 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.17°
Argument of periapsis
254.63°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 17.4 LD
0.0446 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.275

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
25
Data arc
11 days
First observed
8 June 2021
Last observed
19 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 June 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.91

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 90 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 LO3 at 2028-06-06 15:58 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-06 15:58 UTC close approach of 2021 LO3. Catalogue miss distance 68.1 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-03 to 2028-06-09, 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 68.1 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-06 15:58 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-06 15:58 UTC close approach of 2021 LO3. Catalogue miss distance 68.1 LD · 2.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-03 to 2028-06-09, 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
2028-06-06 15:58:00 Earth 0.1749 AU 68.1 LD 9.7 km/s
2030-05-07 02:59:00 Earth 0.2585 AU 100.6 LD 20.4 km/s
2033-07-07 05:55:00 Earth 0.247 AU 96.1 LD 19.8 km/s
2037-05-07 23:52:00 Earth 0.2858 AU 111.2 LD 21.3 km/s
2037-10-13 04:47:00 Venus 0.1057 AU 41.1 LD 14 km/s
2039-05-22 08:19:00 Venus 0.0881 AU 34.3 LD 21.8 km/s
2040-07-08 04:21:00 Earth 0.2169 AU 84.4 LD 18.8 km/s
2042-09-10 04:42:00 Venus 0.0809 AU 31.5 LD 19.9 km/s
2044-04-19 02:44:00 Venus 0.056 AU 21.8 LD 15.9 km/s
2044-05-09 06:04:00 Earth 0.3216 AU 125.1 LD 22.5 km/s

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

Sources