2021 GN is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.8 AU to 1.23 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 373.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 5 April 2022.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.089 AU
- True anomaly
- 238.36°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.366 AU
- As of
- 3 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 18h 09m 40s
- Declination
- -39° 15′ 45″
- Constellation
- Corona Australis
- Distance from Earth
- 1.37 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 52.07° — 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.
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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
- 1.014 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2076
- Inclination
- 22.98°
- Orbital period
- 373.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.804 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.225 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 19.53°
- Argument of periapsis
- 60.01°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 28.4 LD
- 0.0729 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.925
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 121
- Data arc
- 370 days
- First observed
- 30 March 2021
- Last observed
- 4 April 2022
- Residual RMS
- 0.51 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 April 2022
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 23.45
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 99 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2060-09-04 14:16 UTC close approach of 2021 GN. Catalogue miss distance 166.4 LD · 6.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2060-09-01 to 2060-09-07, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2060-09-04 14:16:00 | Earth | 0.4276 AU | 166.4 LD | 21.1 km/s |
| 2061-09-13 13:18:00 | Earth | 0.3104 AU | 120.8 LD | 18.4 km/s |
| 2062-09-23 03:47:00 | Earth | 0.2004 AU | 78.0 LD | 16 km/s |
| 2063-10-03 17:45:00 | Earth | 0.1199 AU | 46.6 LD | 14.2 km/s |
| 2064-10-14 15:55:00 | Earth | 0.1332 AU | 51.9 LD | 13.3 km/s |
| 2065-05-12 03:50:00 | Earth | 0.4369 AU | 170.0 LD | 11.3 km/s |
| 2065-10-28 20:34:00 | Earth | 0.2195 AU | 85.4 LD | 13.1 km/s |
| 2066-04-25 20:29:00 | Earth | 0.3555 AU | 138.4 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2066-11-16 08:50:00 | Earth | 0.3173 AU | 123.5 LD | 13.2 km/s |
| 2067-04-15 12:49:00 | Earth | 0.2605 AU | 101.4 LD | 11.7 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB