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Asteroid Near-Earth

2025 LW

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(2025 LW)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.107 AU
True anomaly
225.35°
Distance from Earth
0.593 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 2025 LW — 1.107 AU from the Sun 2025 LW
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2025 LW is 0.593 AU from Earth today (4.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 36m 57s
Declination
-13° 08′ 43″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.59 AU
Elongation from the Sun
84.01° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.954 AU
Eccentricity
0.3325
Inclination
4.58°
Orbital period
340.1 days
Perihelion
0.636 AU
Aphelion
1.271 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.51°
Argument of periapsis
237.5°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
0.0042 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.262

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
48
Data arc
17 days
First observed
14 June 2025
Last observed
1 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 July 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.93

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 28 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2025 LW at 2027-09-28 03:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-28 03:49 UTC close approach of 2025 LW. Catalogue miss distance 66.9 LD · 2.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-25 to 2027-10-01, 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 66.9 LD · 2.57 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-28 03:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-28 03:49 UTC close approach of 2025 LW. Catalogue miss distance 66.9 LD · 2.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-25 to 2027-10-01, 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
2027-09-28 03:49:00 Earth 0.1718 AU 66.9 LD 6.2 km/s
2039-06-16 19:07:00 Earth 0.1616 AU 62.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2041-10-09 11:20:00 Earth 0.0743 AU 28.9 LD 10.4 km/s
2048-05-27 04:17:00 Venus 0.0839 AU 32.6 LD 14.4 km/s
2050-04-09 04:38:00 Venus 0.0197 AU 7.7 LD 9.9 km/s
2052-03-11 20:38:00 Venus 0.1104 AU 43.0 LD 8.5 km/s
2052-06-02 01:13:00 Earth 0.0108 AU 4.2 LD 10 km/s
2052-06-02 01:13:00 Moon 0.0086 AU 3.3 LD 9 km/s
2054-03-02 12:33:00 Venus 0.0968 AU 37.7 LD 11.6 km/s
2055-10-06 05:39:00 Earth 0.1672 AU 65.1 LD 14.2 km/s

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

Sources