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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 LG4

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(2018 LG4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.046 AU
True anomaly
228.75°
Distance from Earth
0.49 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 2018 LG4 — 1.046 AU from the Sun 2018 LG4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 LG4 is 0.49 AU from Earth today (4.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 31m 42s
Declination
-26° 00′ 02″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.49 AU
Elongation from the Sun
81.69° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.921 AU
Eccentricity
0.3073
Inclination
1.97°
Orbital period
323.1 days
Perihelion
0.638 AU
Aphelion
1.205 AU
Longitude of ascending node
96.6°
Argument of periapsis
35.42°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.4 LD
0.0114 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.447

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
26
Data arc
10 days
First observed
8 June 2018
Last observed
18 June 2018
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 170 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 LG4 at 2027-01-02 03:59 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-02 03:59 UTC close approach of 2018 LG4. Catalogue miss distance 125.9 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-30 to 2027-01-05, 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. Sun 125.9 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-02 03:59 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-02 03:59 UTC close approach of 2018 LG4. Catalogue miss distance 125.9 LD · 4.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-30 to 2027-01-05, 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
2027-01-02 03:59:00 Earth 0.3236 AU 125.9 LD 11 km/s
2027-09-26 10:10:00 Earth 0.2368 AU 92.1 LD 15.5 km/s
2028-10-07 00:46:00 Venus 0.0584 AU 22.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2033-06-14 03:48:00 Earth 0.2143 AU 83.4 LD 14.8 km/s
2034-03-06 18:12:00 Earth 0.3281 AU 127.7 LD 11 km/s
2034-08-26 07:40:00 Earth 0.1759 AU 68.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2034-11-23 20:21:00 Earth 0.2457 AU 95.6 LD 6.5 km/s
2035-02-05 22:18:00 Venus 0.082 AU 31.9 LD 12.8 km/s
2035-09-17 03:48:00 Earth 0.4502 AU 175.2 LD 22.1 km/s
2041-06-08 11:32:00 Earth 0.0251 AU 9.8 LD 9.1 km/s

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

Sources