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Asteroid Near-Earth

2022 LA3

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(2022 LA3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.942 AU
True anomaly
131.38°
Distance from Earth
1.92 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2022 LA3 — 0.942 AU from the Sun 2022 LA3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 LA3 is 1.92 AU from Earth today (16.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 08m 39s
Declination
-11° 58′ 50″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.54° — 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
0.836 AU
Eccentricity
0.2664
Inclination
9.54°
Orbital period
279 days
Perihelion
0.613 AU
Aphelion
1.058 AU
Longitude of ascending node
261.91°
Argument of periapsis
160.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.0 LD
0.0154 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.989

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
21
Data arc
18 days
First observed
3 June 2022
Last observed
21 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 91 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 LA3 at 2028-04-29 17:37 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-29 17:37 UTC close approach of 2022 LA3. Catalogue miss distance 177.0 LD · 6.81 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-26 to 2028-05-02, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 177.0 LD · 6.81 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-29 17:37 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-29 17:37 UTC close approach of 2022 LA3. Catalogue miss distance 177.0 LD · 6.81 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-26 to 2028-05-02, 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 south 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
2028-02-15 23:35:00 Venus 0.1029 AU 40.1 LD 11.4 km/s
2028-04-29 17:37:00 Earth 0.4549 AU 177.0 LD 19.2 km/s
2028-11-01 22:40:00 Earth 0.3793 AU 147.6 LD 13.1 km/s
2031-02-19 08:48:00 Venus 0.1431 AU 55.7 LD 11 km/s
2031-12-13 04:42:00 Earth 0.3648 AU 142.0 LD 13.5 km/s
2032-06-14 15:11:00 Earth 0.4061 AU 158.0 LD 18.7 km/s
2035-01-27 02:04:00 Earth 0.3052 AU 118.8 LD 9.2 km/s
2035-06-22 08:48:00 Earth 0.0927 AU 36.1 LD 9.2 km/s
2038-05-07 03:47:00 Earth 0.1206 AU 46.9 LD 6.8 km/s
2041-04-26 08:39:00 Earth 0.3547 AU 138.0 LD 15.7 km/s

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

Sources