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Asteroid Near-Earth

68348

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68348 (2001 LO7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.126 AU
True anomaly
198.37°
Distance from Earth
3.771 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 68348 — 3.126 AU from the Sun 68348
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 68348 is 3.771 AU from Earth today (31.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 04m 41s
Declination
-13° 40′ 35″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
3.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.25° — 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
2.155 AU
Eccentricity
0.8408
Inclination
25.35°
Orbital period
3.16 years
Perihelion
0.343 AU
Aphelion
3.968 AU
Longitude of ascending node
236.22°
Argument of periapsis
181.67°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 150.0 LD
0.3853 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.044

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,637
Data arc
72.11 years
First observed
2 June 1954
Last observed
13 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 July 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.76 km
Rotation period
3.33 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.299
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.27

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
15 June 2001
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2001 LO7

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 20 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-01-27 06:07:00 Juptr 1.9949 AU 776.4 LD 9.8 km/s
2054-05-08 09:44:00 Juptr 1.4162 AU 551.1 LD 7.8 km/s
2062-04-03 16:29:00 Mercury 0.038 AU 14.8 LD 37.5 km/s
2062-04-03 16:29:00 Merc 0.038 AU 14.8 LD 37.5 km/s
2101-10-15 09:29:00 Juptr 1.409 AU 548.3 LD 7.8 km/s
2112-10-30 11:39:00 Merc 0.0523 AU 20.3 LD 37.5 km/s
2112-10-30 11:39:00 Mercury 0.0523 AU 20.3 LD 37.5 km/s
2149-03-24 06:32:00 Juptr 1.4074 AU 547.7 LD 7.8 km/s
2163-05-30 21:22:00 Mercury 0.0334 AU 13.0 LD 36.7 km/s
2163-05-30 21:22:00 Merc 0.0334 AU 13.0 LD 36.7 km/s

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

Sources