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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 LO4

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(2026 LO4)

2026 LO4 is an asteroid in the Atira (interior-Earth object) orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.58 AU to 0.86 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 224 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 October 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.605 AU
True anomaly
319.7°
Distance from Earth
0.549 AU
As of
26 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 LO4 — 0.605 AU from the Sun 2026 LO4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 LO4 is 0.549 AU from Earth today (4.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 46m 43s
Declination
+07° 09′ 36″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
0.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.83° — 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
0.722 AU
Eccentricity
0.1945
Inclination
25.1°
Orbital period
224 days
Perihelion
0.581 AU
Aphelion
0.862 AU
Longitude of ascending node
307.94°
Argument of periapsis
110.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · IEO
Atira (interior-Earth object)
Earth MOID · 98.8 LD
0.2538 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.871

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
30
Data arc
112 days
First observed
7 June 2026
Last observed
27 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.98

Discovery & classification

Atira Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 71 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-06-06 22:13:00 Venus 0.1441 AU 56.1 LD 16 km/s
2034-01-17 17:41:00 Venus 0.1324 AU 51.5 LD 16 km/s
2034-08-30 12:21:00 Venus 0.1211 AU 47.1 LD 16.1 km/s
2035-04-12 06:22:00 Venus 0.1102 AU 42.9 LD 16.1 km/s
2035-11-22 23:48:00 Venus 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 16.2 km/s
2036-07-04 16:40:00 Venus 0.0902 AU 35.1 LD 16.2 km/s
2037-02-14 09:09:00 Venus 0.0811 AU 31.5 LD 16.3 km/s
2037-09-27 01:22:00 Venus 0.0727 AU 28.3 LD 16.4 km/s
2038-05-09 17:31:00 Venus 0.0651 AU 25.3 LD 16.5 km/s
2038-12-20 09:25:00 Venus 0.0586 AU 22.8 LD 16.6 km/s

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

Sources