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Asteroid Near-Earth

66400

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66400 (1999 LT7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.023 AU
True anomaly
139.93°
Distance from Earth
2.013 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 66400 — 1.023 AU from the Sun 66400
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 66400 is 2.013 AU from Earth today (16.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 36m 28s
Declination
-05° 50′ 46″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.02 AU
Elongation from the Sun
4.68° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.855 AU
Eccentricity
0.5725
Inclination
9.06°
Orbital period
288.9 days
Perihelion
0.366 AU
Aphelion
1.345 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.79°
Argument of periapsis
341.41°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 23.0 LD
0.0591 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.74

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
835
Data arc
38.17 years
First observed
21 April 1987
Last observed
22 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 November 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.21 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.182
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.27

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
9 June 1999
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1999 LT7

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 112 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 66400 at 2036-04-11 13:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-04-11 13:23 UTC close approach of 66400. Catalogue miss distance 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-04-08 to 2036-04-14, 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 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km 2036-04-11 13:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-04-11 13:23 UTC close approach of 66400. Catalogue miss distance 62.2 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-04-08 to 2036-04-14, 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
2028-04-17 10:21:00 Venus 0.143 AU 55.7 LD 27.4 km/s
2036-04-11 13:23:00 Earth 0.16 AU 62.2 LD 18.7 km/s
2037-06-30 23:29:00 Earth 0.1368 AU 53.2 LD 13.6 km/s
2041-06-30 14:51:00 Earth 0.1191 AU 46.4 LD 19.6 km/s
2055-04-11 18:28:00 Earth 0.1482 AU 57.7 LD 17.9 km/s
2056-07-01 17:18:00 Earth 0.1185 AU 46.1 LD 14 km/s
2060-06-29 22:16:00 Earth 0.1364 AU 53.1 LD 20.2 km/s
2074-04-11 09:20:00 Earth 0.1439 AU 56.0 LD 17.5 km/s
2075-07-02 22:00:00 Earth 0.1088 AU 42.3 LD 14.2 km/s
2079-06-30 08:08:00 Earth 0.1496 AU 58.2 LD 20.7 km/s

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

Sources