Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 AU5

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2021 AU5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.9 AU
True anomaly
91.94°
Distance from Earth
0.874 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 2021 AU5 — 0.9 AU from the Sun 2021 AU5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 AU5 is 0.874 AU from Earth today (7.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 38m 59s
Declination
-33° 10′ 58″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.87 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.25° — 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
0.92 AU
Eccentricity
0.165
Inclination
15.66°
Orbital period
322.3 days
Perihelion
0.768 AU
Aphelion
1.072 AU
Longitude of ascending node
118.13°
Argument of periapsis
125.25°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.8 LD
0.0045 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.454

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
32
Data arc
6 days
First observed
12 January 2021
Last observed
18 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.03

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 127 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 AU5 at 2027-09-11 09:51 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-11 09:51 UTC close approach of 2021 AU5. Catalogue miss distance 100.9 LD · 3.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-08 to 2027-09-14, 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 100.9 LD · 3.88 × 10⁷ km 2027-09-11 09:51 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-09-11 09:51 UTC close approach of 2021 AU5. Catalogue miss distance 100.9 LD · 3.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-09-08 to 2027-09-14, 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
2027-09-11 09:51:00 Earth 0.2592 AU 100.9 LD 12.2 km/s
2028-05-26 08:39:00 Earth 0.3146 AU 122.4 LD 9.5 km/s
2028-07-02 00:28:00 Venus 0.1192 AU 46.4 LD 8.1 km/s
2029-01-13 11:16:00 Earth 0.2689 AU 104.6 LD 15.4 km/s
2034-08-21 07:48:00 Venus 0.129 AU 50.2 LD 10.6 km/s
2035-07-24 08:06:00 Earth 0.1978 AU 77.0 LD 10.2 km/s
2036-01-17 22:12:00 Earth 0.0868 AU 33.8 LD 8.4 km/s
2042-09-13 10:42:00 Earth 0.2736 AU 106.5 LD 12.6 km/s
2043-05-31 14:50:00 Earth 0.3084 AU 120.0 LD 9.7 km/s
2044-01-15 01:22:00 Earth 0.2425 AU 94.4 LD 14.6 km/s

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

Sources