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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 JX3

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(2021 JX3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.434 AU
True anomaly
2.76°
Distance from Earth
0.572 AU
As of
17 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 2021 JX3 — 0.434 AU from the Sun 2021 JX3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 JX3 is 0.572 AU from Earth today (4.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 50m 22s
Declination
-06° 46′ 16″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
0.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.1° — 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
0.822 AU
Eccentricity
0.4727
Inclination
14.43°
Orbital period
272.3 days
Perihelion
0.434 AU
Aphelion
1.211 AU
Longitude of ascending node
224.05°
Argument of periapsis
150.36°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 14.0 LD
0.036 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.007

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
29
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
9 May 2021
Last observed
10 May 2021
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 May 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.34

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 167 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 JX3 at 2027-05-10 07:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-10 07:47 UTC close approach of 2021 JX3. Catalogue miss distance 62.4 LD · 2.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-07 to 2027-05-13, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 62.4 LD · 2.4 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-10 07:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-10 07:47 UTC close approach of 2021 JX3. Catalogue miss distance 62.4 LD · 2.4 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-07 to 2027-05-13, 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 north 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
2027-05-10 07:47:00 Earth 0.1602 AU 62.4 LD 18.7 km/s
2029-03-07 04:44:00 Earth 0.4699 AU 182.9 LD 26.1 km/s
2029-08-30 04:07:00 Venus 0.1426 AU 55.5 LD 21.6 km/s
2030-05-06 21:39:00 Earth 0.261 AU 101.6 LD 21.9 km/s
2032-03-02 13:11:00 Earth 0.3823 AU 148.8 LD 22.5 km/s
2033-05-02 18:19:00 Earth 0.3643 AU 141.8 LD 25.2 km/s
2035-02-27 08:05:00 Earth 0.305 AU 118.7 LD 19 km/s
2036-04-28 09:06:00 Earth 0.4655 AU 181.2 LD 28.5 km/s
2038-02-24 08:07:00 Earth 0.2511 AU 97.7 LD 15.6 km/s
2041-02-25 02:42:00 Earth 0.2344 AU 91.2 LD 12.5 km/s

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

Sources