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Centaur

2013 LA2

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(2013 LA2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.076 AU
True anomaly
21.39°
Distance from Earth
3.691 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 2013 LA2 — 3.076 AU from the Sun 2013 LA2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2013 LA2 is 3.691 AU from Earth today (30.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 07m 10s
Declination
-21° 51′ 33″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
3.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.86° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
5.708 AU
Eccentricity
0.4731
Inclination
175.1°
Orbital period
13.64 years
Perihelion
3.008 AU
Aphelion
8.409 AU
Longitude of ascending node
243.99°
Argument of periapsis
325.19°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 775.5 LD
1.9927 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.927

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
51
Data arc
333 days
First observed
28 July 2012
Last observed
26 June 2013
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 April 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.94

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 35 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-05-07 12:16:00 Juptr 0.5554 AU 216.2 LD 25.9 km/s
2033-05-25 03:26:00 Satrn 0.7292 AU 283.8 LD 17.6 km/s
2041-04-28 17:06:00 Juptr 1.549 AU 602.8 LD 29.3 km/s
2061-12-29 02:07:00 Satrn 0.7786 AU 303.0 LD 17.7 km/s
2080-11-20 20:56:00 Juptr 1.751 AU 681.5 LD 32.8 km/s
2090-07-18 13:10:00 Satrn 1.2488 AU 486.0 LD 18.4 km/s
2093-11-30 02:19:00 Juptr 0.7993 AU 311.1 LD 29.4 km/s
2098-05-18 06:47:00 Juptr 1.3569 AU 528.1 LD 22.4 km/s
2106-09-09 13:24:00 Juptr 0.4354 AU 169.4 LD 26.2 km/s
2106-09-09 13:24:00 Jupiter 0.4354 AU 169.4 LD 26.2 km/s

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

Sources