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Asteroid Near-Earth

2004 LO2

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(2004 LO2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.041 AU
True anomaly
130.57°
Distance from Earth
1.833 AU
As of
21 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2004 LO2 — 1.041 AU from the Sun 2004 LO2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2004 LO2 is 1.833 AU from Earth today (15.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 44m 12s
Declination
+10° 24′ 49″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.51° — 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
0.916 AU
Eccentricity
0.3511
Inclination
25.44°
Orbital period
320.2 days
Perihelion
0.594 AU
Aphelion
1.238 AU
Longitude of ascending node
82.59°
Argument of periapsis
309.42°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.3 LD
0.0137 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.39

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
31
Data arc
4 days
First observed
11 June 2004
Last observed
15 June 2004
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 144 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2004 LO2 at 2031-01-28 14:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-28 14:40 UTC close approach of 2004 LO2. Catalogue miss distance 133.0 LD · 5.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-25 to 2031-01-31, 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 133.0 LD · 5.11 × 10⁷ km 2031-01-28 14:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-28 14:40 UTC close approach of 2004 LO2. Catalogue miss distance 133.0 LD · 5.11 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-25 to 2031-01-31, 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
2027-07-08 04:33:00 Venus 0.0754 AU 29.4 LD 16.7 km/s
2031-01-28 14:40:00 Earth 0.3418 AU 133.0 LD 19.9 km/s
2031-11-12 18:40:00 Earth 0.4331 AU 168.5 LD 19.5 km/s
2032-06-13 17:44:00 Earth 0.1909 AU 74.3 LD 13.2 km/s
2038-02-03 17:17:00 Earth 0.3775 AU 146.9 LD 20.9 km/s
2038-11-20 11:58:00 Earth 0.4073 AU 158.5 LD 19.5 km/s
2039-06-11 09:29:00 Earth 0.2534 AU 98.6 LD 12.9 km/s
2040-05-31 01:08:00 Earth 0.4415 AU 171.8 LD 26.6 km/s
2045-02-09 16:37:00 Earth 0.4216 AU 164.1 LD 22.1 km/s
2045-11-28 10:41:00 Earth 0.3797 AU 147.8 LD 19.4 km/s

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

Sources