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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 LW3

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(2021 LW3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.072 AU
True anomaly
183.76°
Distance from Earth
1.531 AU
As of
19 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 LW3 — 1.072 AU from the Sun 2021 LW3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 LW3 is 1.531 AU from Earth today (12.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 38m 22s
Declination
-15° 07′ 08″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.22° — 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
0.824 AU
Eccentricity
0.303
Inclination
16.4°
Orbital period
273 days
Perihelion
0.574 AU
Aphelion
1.073 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.45°
Argument of periapsis
213.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.6 LD
0.0118 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.045

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
134
Data arc
3.09 years
First observed
9 June 2021
Last observed
11 July 2024
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
24 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.07

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 202 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 LW3 at 2027-06-10 03:06 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-10 03:06 UTC close approach of 2021 LW3. Catalogue miss distance 29.4 LD · 1.13 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-07 to 2027-06-13, 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 29.4 LD · 1.13 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-10 03:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-10 03:06 UTC close approach of 2021 LW3. Catalogue miss distance 29.4 LD · 1.13 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-07 to 2027-06-13, 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
2027-06-10 03:06:00 Earth 0.0756 AU 29.4 LD 9.2 km/s
2027-10-13 18:14:00 Earth 0.3242 AU 126.2 LD 10.4 km/s
2030-06-15 07:46:00 Earth 0.1305 AU 50.8 LD 8.9 km/s
2030-09-28 16:25:00 Earth 0.3134 AU 122.0 LD 8.1 km/s
2033-06-24 05:05:00 Earth 0.183 AU 71.2 LD 9 km/s
2036-07-05 20:04:00 Earth 0.2296 AU 89.4 LD 9.4 km/s
2039-03-18 07:35:00 Earth 0.4004 AU 155.8 LD 8.1 km/s
2039-07-20 19:25:00 Earth 0.2725 AU 106.0 LD 10.1 km/s
2042-03-03 00:30:00 Earth 0.4225 AU 164.4 LD 10.9 km/s
2042-07-30 14:50:00 Earth 0.3153 AU 122.7 LD 11.7 km/s

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

Sources