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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 AA1

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(2021 AA1)

2021 AA1 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.83 AU to 1.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 354.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.051 AU
True anomaly
234.36°
Distance from Earth
1.079 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 2021 AA1 — 1.051 AU from the Sun 2021 AA1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 AA1 is 1.079 AU from Earth today (9.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 46m 27s
Declination
+08° 19′ 41″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.08 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.82° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.98 AU
Eccentricity
0.1527
Inclination
17.26°
Orbital period
354.6 days
Perihelion
0.831 AU
Aphelion
1.13 AU
Longitude of ascending node
285.99°
Argument of periapsis
303.58°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 21.8 LD
0.0559 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.126

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
32
Data arc
8 days
First observed
4 January 2021
Last observed
12 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 24 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 AA1 at 2055-01-12 19:33 UTC Sun 35.1 LD · 1.35 × 10⁷ km 2055-01-12 19:33 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2055-01-12 19:33 UTC close approach of 2021 AA1. Catalogue miss distance 35.1 LD · 1.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2055-01-09 to 2055-01-15, 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
2027-03-25 06:19:00 Venus 0.1435 AU 55.8 LD 12.2 km/s
2055-01-12 19:33:00 Earth 0.0902 AU 35.1 LD 10.9 km/s
2056-01-11 20:43:00 Earth 0.2501 AU 97.4 LD 14.7 km/s
2057-01-06 19:10:00 Earth 0.4229 AU 164.6 LD 19.4 km/s
2088-01-11 23:13:00 Earth 0.0566 AU 22.0 LD 9.9 km/s
2089-01-12 04:58:00 Earth 0.1823 AU 70.9 LD 13 km/s
2089-05-11 06:11:00 Venus 0.1415 AU 55.1 LD 12.6 km/s
2090-01-09 01:28:00 Earth 0.3538 AU 137.7 LD 17.4 km/s
2157-01-09 14:21:00 Earth 0.3694 AU 143.8 LD 17.9 km/s

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

Sources