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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

Nabu

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533671 Nabu (2014 LJ21)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.448 AU
True anomaly
182.06°
Distance from Earth
6.038 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 Nabu — 5.448 AU from the Sun Nabu
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Nabu is 6.038 AU from Earth today (50.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 28m 17s
Declination
-03° 52′ 26″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
6.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
49.4° — 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
2.89 AU
Eccentricity
0.8954
Inclination
24.29°
Orbital period
4.91 years
Perihelion
0.302 AU
Aphelion
5.478 AU
Longitude of ascending node
126.53°
Argument of periapsis
302.96°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 10.5 LD
0.027 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.405

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
836
Data arc
19.1 years
First observed
12 May 2005
Last observed
18 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 September 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
16.41 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.93

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
CSS
Discovery date
5 June 2014
Discovery site
Catalina

Nabu was the Mesopotamian god of writing and wisdom, and the patron of scribes in Babylonian mythology. He was associated with literacy, scholarship and the keeping of written records.

Also known as 533671 · 2014 LJ21

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 20 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Nabu at 2048-07-30 02:02 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-07-30 02:02 UTC close approach of Nabu. Catalogue miss distance 26.4 LD · 1.01 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-07-27 to 2048-08-02, 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 28 Jul 1 Aug 26.4 LD · 1.01 × 10⁷ km 2048-07-30 02:02 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-07-30 02:02 UTC close approach of Nabu. Catalogue miss distance 26.4 LD · 1.01 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-07-27 to 2048-08-02, 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
2030-11-17 13:06:00 Juptr 1.9047 AU 741.3 LD 9.5 km/s
2048-07-30 02:02:00 Earth 0.0678 AU 26.4 LD 34.5 km/s
2053-08-12 19:55:00 Mercury 0.0769 AU 29.9 LD 34.8 km/s
2053-08-12 19:55:00 Merc 0.0769 AU 29.9 LD 34.8 km/s
2067-01-10 09:53:00 Juptr 1.5229 AU 592.7 LD 10.5 km/s
2073-02-04 05:30:00 Mars 0.0836 AU 32.5 LD 27.7 km/s
2090-06-09 05:48:00 Juptr 1.8536 AU 721.4 LD 8.9 km/s
2126-03-14 17:17:00 Juptr 1.6411 AU 638.7 LD 12.4 km/s
2150-01-10 04:37:00 Juptr 1.6473 AU 641.1 LD 9.1 km/s
2161-06-25 22:58:00 Mars 0.0366 AU 14.3 LD 28.8 km/s

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

Sources