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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 LA6

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(2021 LA6)

2021 LA6 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.79 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 360.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 26 June 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.917 AU
True anomaly
79.74°
Distance from Earth
1.034 AU
As of
2 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 LA6 — 0.917 AU from the Sun 2021 LA6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 LA6 is 1.034 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 05m 51s
Declination
+00° 16′ 55″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
53.84° — 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
0.992 AU
Eccentricity
0.2046
Inclination
11.61°
Orbital period
360.7 days
Perihelion
0.789 AU
Aphelion
1.194 AU
Longitude of ascending node
257.31°
Argument of periapsis
129.13°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 20.7 LD
0.0531 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.085

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
19
Data arc
17 days
First observed
9 June 2021
Last observed
26 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 June 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.73

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 76 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 LA6 at 2027-06-12 03:27 UTC Sun 147.5 LD · 5.67 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-12 03:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-12 03:27 UTC close approach of 2021 LA6. Catalogue miss distance 147.5 LD · 5.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-09 to 2027-06-15, 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. 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
2027-06-12 03:27:00 Earth 0.3791 AU 147.5 LD 17.9 km/s
2028-06-08 11:22:00 Earth 0.4535 AU 176.5 LD 20.1 km/s
2028-09-17 14:28:00 Venus 0.1135 AU 44.2 LD 10.5 km/s
2061-04-27 16:04:00 Venus 0.1064 AU 41.4 LD 9.8 km/s
2087-02-08 15:49:00 Earth 0.4656 AU 181.2 LD 20.3 km/s
2088-02-04 16:44:00 Earth 0.3939 AU 153.3 LD 18.1 km/s
2089-01-30 09:59:00 Earth 0.3233 AU 125.8 LD 15.9 km/s
2093-12-06 07:00:00 Venus 0.1204 AU 46.9 LD 9.3 km/s
2098-11-04 17:15:00 Venus 0.1362 AU 53.0 LD 11.3 km/s
2103-06-19 19:44:00 Earth 0.0615 AU 23.9 LD 7.7 km/s

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

Sources