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Asteroid Near-Earth

144861

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144861 (2004 LA12)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.371 AU
True anomaly
177.08°
Distance from Earth
5.272 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 144861 — 4.371 AU from the Sun 144861
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 144861 is 5.272 AU from Earth today (43.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 03m 15s
Declination
+09° 04′ 41″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
23.5° — 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
2.508 AU
Eccentricity
0.7493
Inclination
39.43°
Orbital period
3.97 years
Perihelion
0.629 AU
Aphelion
4.388 AU
Longitude of ascending node
159.18°
Argument of periapsis
199.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 139.1 LD
0.3574 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.785

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
750
Data arc
24.07 years
First observed
12 March 2002
Last observed
6 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 April 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.36

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
NEAT
Discovery date
14 June 2004
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 2004 LA12

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-07-23 06:07:00 Venus 0.1052 AU 40.9 LD 32.2 km/s
2099-12-05 10:29:00 Venus 0.1267 AU 49.3 LD 33 km/s

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

Sources