2021 PK2 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.77 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 354.3 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 10 August 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.872 AU
- True anomaly
- 70.54°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.419 AU
- As of
- 2 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
- 12h 09m 30s
- Declination
- -02° 53′ 50″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.42 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 37.4° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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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
- 0.98 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2148
- Inclination
- 6.59°
- Orbital period
- 354.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.769 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.19 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 294.77°
- Argument of periapsis
- 134.07°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 15.6 LD
- 0.0401 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.153
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 22
- Data arc
- 3 days
- First observed
- 6 August 2021
- Last observed
- 9 August 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.31 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 10 August 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 23.84
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 36 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-03-30 15:01 UTC close approach of 2021 PK2. Catalogue miss distance 164.8 LD · 6.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-03-27 to 2048-04-02, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2030-08-10 20:58:00 | Venus | 0.137 AU | 53.3 LD | 9.8 km/s |
| 2048-03-30 15:01:00 | Earth | 0.4236 AU | 164.8 LD | 18.6 km/s |
| 2049-01-22 12:36:00 | Venus | 0.0703 AU | 27.4 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2049-03-21 14:11:00 | Earth | 0.2486 AU | 96.7 LD | 13.1 km/s |
| 2054-08-05 08:18:00 | Earth | 0.0409 AU | 15.9 LD | 6.7 km/s |
| 2055-08-02 08:41:00 | Earth | 0.1887 AU | 73.4 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