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Asteroid Near-Earth

Lyapunov

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5324 Lyapunov (1987 SL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.383 AU
True anomaly
199.85°
Distance from Earth
5.141 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Lyapunov — 4.383 AU from the Sun Lyapunov
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lyapunov is 5.141 AU from Earth today (42.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 02m 01s
Declination
+11° 58′ 29″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
5.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.26° — 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.

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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
2.977 AU
Eccentricity
0.6073
Inclination
19.7°
Orbital period
5.14 years
Perihelion
1.169 AU
Aphelion
4.786 AU
Longitude of ascending node
351.94°
Argument of periapsis
321.27°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 85.5 LD
0.2198 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.879

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
394
Data arc
37.43 years
First observed
19 September 1987
Last observed
22 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.35

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Karachkina, L. G.
Discovery date
22 September 1987
Discovery site
Nauchnyj

Also known as 5324 · 1987 SL

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 10 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Lyapunov at 2155-09-02 21:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2155-09-02 21:46 UTC close approach of Lyapunov. Catalogue miss distance 70.9 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2155-08-30 to 2155-09-05, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 70.9 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km 2155-09-02 21:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2155-09-02 21:46 UTC close approach of Lyapunov. Catalogue miss distance 70.9 LD · 2.73 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2155-08-30 to 2155-09-05, 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 south 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
2062-08-16 17:12:00 Juptr 1.5559 AU 605.5 LD 9 km/s
2098-04-13 15:29:00 Juptr 1.3364 AU 520.1 LD 8.3 km/s
2133-10-17 13:06:00 Juptr 1.5603 AU 607.2 LD 9.1 km/s
2155-09-02 21:46:00 Earth 0.1822 AU 70.9 LD 14 km/s
2193-04-12 20:06:00 Juptr 1.5815 AU 615.5 LD 6.1 km/s

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

Sources