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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 EJ3

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(2021 EJ3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.869 AU
True anomaly
310.78°
Distance from Earth
1.494 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 EJ3 — 0.869 AU from the Sun 2021 EJ3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 EJ3 is 1.494 AU from Earth today (12.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 02m 46s
Declination
-21° 38′ 40″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.49 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.98° — 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
0.924 AU
Eccentricity
0.0852
Inclination
1.59°
Orbital period
324.3 days
Perihelion
0.845 AU
Aphelion
1.003 AU
Longitude of ascending node
4.22°
Argument of periapsis
326.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.5 LD
0.0038 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.472

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
77
Data arc
10 days
First observed
7 March 2021
Last observed
17 March 2021
Residual RMS
0.26 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 May 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.72

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 EJ3 at 2028-11-02 12:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-11-02 12:49 UTC close approach of 2021 EJ3. Catalogue miss distance 44.0 LD · 1.69 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-30 to 2028-11-05, 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 44.0 LD · 1.69 × 10⁷ km 2028-11-02 12:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-11-02 12:49 UTC close approach of 2021 EJ3. Catalogue miss distance 44.0 LD · 1.69 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-30 to 2028-11-05, 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
2028-11-02 12:49:00 Earth 0.113 AU 44.0 LD 2.4 km/s
2029-03-24 17:23:00 Earth 0.0414 AU 16.1 LD 3.5 km/s
2036-01-14 06:09:00 Earth 0.3267 AU 127.2 LD 12.3 km/s
2036-08-16 04:50:00 Earth 0.172 AU 66.9 LD 4.5 km/s
2037-03-20 06:29:00 Earth 0.3192 AU 124.2 LD 12 km/s
2038-05-12 14:14:00 Venus 0.1202 AU 46.8 LD 2.1 km/s
2044-01-08 01:54:00 Earth 0.0512 AU 19.9 LD 3.4 km/s
2044-05-25 17:39:00 Earth 0.1155 AU 44.9 LD 2 km/s
2052-03-10 13:52:00 Moon 0.0083 AU 3.2 LD 3 km/s

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

Sources