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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 PF7

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(2021 PF7)

2021 PF7 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 355.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 12 August 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.144 AU
True anomaly
212.87°
Distance from Earth
0.248 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 PF7 — 1.144 AU from the Sun 2021 PF7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 PF7 is 0.248 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 32m 21s
Declination
+14° 49′ 34″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
0.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
122.52° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.983 AU
Eccentricity
0.2148
Inclination
1.93°
Orbital period
355.8 days
Perihelion
0.772 AU
Aphelion
1.194 AU
Longitude of ascending node
119.15°
Argument of periapsis
78.69°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.2 LD
0.0057 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.143

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
10
Data arc
4 days
First observed
9 August 2021
Last observed
13 August 2021
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 August 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.81

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 68 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 PF7 at 2026-12-26 19:18 UTC Sun 15.5 LD · 5.94 × 10⁶ km 2026-12-26 19:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-26 19:18 UTC close approach of 2021 PF7. Catalogue miss distance 15.5 LD · 5.94 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-23 to 2026-12-29, 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
2026-12-26 19:18:00 Earth 0.0397 AU 15.5 LD 7.7 km/s
2027-12-20 07:11:00 Earth 0.213 AU 82.9 LD 13 km/s
2028-12-12 02:52:00 Earth 0.3868 AU 150.5 LD 18.4 km/s
2043-09-21 20:56:00 Venus 0.0958 AU 37.3 LD 4.9 km/s
2054-08-17 09:59:00 Earth 0.3966 AU 154.3 LD 18.4 km/s
2055-05-26 02:17:00 Venus 0.0762 AU 29.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2055-08-10 18:45:00 Earth 0.2303 AU 89.6 LD 13.3 km/s
2056-08-03 07:43:00 Earth 0.0588 AU 22.9 LD 8.2 km/s
2058-05-22 16:23:00 Earth 0.2086 AU 81.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2058-09-25 05:26:00 Earth 0.1866 AU 72.6 LD 5.4 km/s

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

Sources