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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 LK9

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(2021 LK9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.233 AU
True anomaly
154.97°
Distance from Earth
2.145 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 LK9 — 1.233 AU from the Sun 2021 LK9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 LK9 is 2.145 AU from Earth today (17.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 45m 43s
Declination
-11° 50′ 58″
Constellation
Corvus
Distance from Earth
2.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.49° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.97 AU
Eccentricity
0.3303
Inclination
11.16°
Orbital period
348.8 days
Perihelion
0.649 AU
Aphelion
1.29 AU
Longitude of ascending node
271.16°
Argument of periapsis
115.58°
Epoch · J2000
2459380.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
0.0042 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.165

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
13
Data arc
3 days
First observed
14 June 2021
Last observed
17 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 June 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.47

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-05-16 20:15:00 Venus 0.0632 AU 24.6 LD 15.4 km/s

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

Sources