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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

159857

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159857 (2004 LJ1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.595 AU
True anomaly
176.54°
Distance from Earth
4.562 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 159857 — 3.595 AU from the Sun 159857
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 159857 is 4.562 AU from Earth today (37.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 37m 28s
Declination
-17° 25′ 13″
Constellation
Corvus
Distance from Earth
4.56 AU
Elongation from the Sun
12.78° — too close to the Sun to observe

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
2.262 AU
Eccentricity
0.5936
Inclination
23.15°
Orbital period
3.4 years
Perihelion
0.919 AU
Aphelion
3.605 AU
Longitude of ascending node
235.52°
Argument of periapsis
140.01°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 5.8 LD
0.0149 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.276

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,315
Data arc
31.18 years
First observed
3 February 1995
Last observed
11 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 May 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.54 km
Rotation period
2.73 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.13
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.46

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
10 June 2004
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2004 LJ1

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 5 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 159857 at 2038-11-16 13:44 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-11-16 13:44 UTC close approach of 159857. Catalogue miss distance 7.72 LD · 2.97 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-11-13 to 2038-11-19, 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 Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 14 Nov 19 Nov 7.72 LD · 2.97 × 10⁶ km 2038-11-16 13:44 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-11-16 13:44 UTC close approach of 159857. Catalogue miss distance 7.72 LD · 2.97 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-11-13 to 2038-11-19, 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 Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2038-11-16 13:44:00 Earth 0.0198 AU 7.7 LD 17.2 km/s
2055-11-22 16:44:00 Earth 0.0893 AU 34.7 LD 18.9 km/s

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

Sources