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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 OZ

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(2021 OZ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.938 AU
True anomaly
295°
Distance from Earth
1 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 OZ — 0.938 AU from the Sun 2021 OZ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 OZ is 1 AU from Earth today (8.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 47m 50s
Declination
+18° 48′ 32″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.07° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.975 AU
Eccentricity
0.0788
Inclination
17.86°
Orbital period
351.8 days
Perihelion
0.898 AU
Aphelion
1.052 AU
Longitude of ascending node
310.55°
Argument of periapsis
206.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.8 LD
0.0277 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.157

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
154
Data arc
39 days
First observed
28 July 2021
Last observed
5 September 2021
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.39

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 78 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 OZ at 2045-08-05 10:05 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2045-08-05 10:05 UTC close approach of 2021 OZ. Catalogue miss distance 181.6 LD · 6.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2045-08-02 to 2045-08-08, 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 181.6 LD · 6.98 × 10⁷ km 2045-08-05 10:05 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2045-08-05 10:05 UTC close approach of 2021 OZ. Catalogue miss distance 181.6 LD · 6.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2045-08-02 to 2045-08-08, 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
2045-08-05 10:05:00 Earth 0.4666 AU 181.6 LD 17.6 km/s
2046-08-02 06:45:00 Earth 0.2532 AU 98.6 LD 12.5 km/s
2047-03-12 07:14:00 Earth 0.3044 AU 118.5 LD 11.4 km/s
2047-08-02 09:03:00 Earth 0.0475 AU 18.5 LD 9.3 km/s
2048-02-09 02:00:00 Earth 0.1211 AU 47.1 LD 10 km/s
2048-08-05 08:48:00 Earth 0.1684 AU 65.6 LD 9.6 km/s
2049-01-16 14:10:00 Earth 0.1384 AU 53.9 LD 10.9 km/s
2049-08-13 04:24:00 Earth 0.3686 AU 143.4 LD 12.8 km/s
2049-12-26 22:22:00 Earth 0.3358 AU 130.7 LD 14.5 km/s
2072-08-04 12:33:00 Earth 0.4294 AU 167.1 LD 16.6 km/s

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

Sources