Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2012 LA11

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2012 LA11)

2012 LA11 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.89 AU to 1.08 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 357.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.892 AU
True anomaly
351.22°
Distance from Earth
1.369 AU
As of
2 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2012 LA11 — 0.892 AU from the Sun 2012 LA11
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 LA11 is 1.369 AU from Earth today (11.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 57m 35s
Declination
-02° 40′ 33″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.55° — 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
0.986 AU
Eccentricity
0.0962
Inclination
5.13°
Orbital period
357.8 days
Perihelion
0.891 AU
Aphelion
1.081 AU
Longitude of ascending node
260.39°
Argument of periapsis
241.84°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.4 LD
0.0062 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.138

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
83
Data arc
441 days
First observed
15 June 2012
Last observed
30 August 2013
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 51 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2012 LA11 at 2057-06-25 13:35 UTC Sun 187.9 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km 2057-06-25 13:35 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2057-06-25 13:35 UTC close approach of 2012 LA11. Catalogue miss distance 187.9 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2057-06-22 to 2057-06-28, 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. 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
2057-06-25 13:35:00 Earth 0.4828 AU 187.9 LD 16.9 km/s
2058-06-20 08:05:00 Earth 0.3613 AU 140.6 LD 13.4 km/s
2059-06-15 09:29:00 Earth 0.2395 AU 93.2 LD 9.9 km/s
2060-06-10 01:43:00 Earth 0.1188 AU 46.3 LD 6.5 km/s
2061-06-07 23:03:00 Moon 0.008 AU 3.1 LD 4.4 km/s
2061-06-08 07:27:00 Earth 0.0074 AU 2.9 LD 3.7 km/s
2062-06-10 13:04:00 Earth 0.0372 AU 14.5 LD 3 km/s
2063-07-03 05:40:00 Earth 0.0884 AU 34.4 LD 2.8 km/s
2064-02-22 10:33:00 Earth 0.1205 AU 46.9 LD 2.8 km/s
2065-01-14 07:38:00 Earth 0.0987 AU 38.4 LD 3.2 km/s

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

Sources