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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 RO10

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(2021 RO10)

2021 RO10 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.91 AU to 1.15 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 380.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 27 September 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.139 AU
True anomaly
201.55°
Distance from Earth
1.289 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 RO10 — 1.139 AU from the Sun 2021 RO10
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 RO10 is 1.289 AU from Earth today (10.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 45m 05s
Declination
-27° 13′ 50″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
1.29 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.06° — 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.

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
1.028 AU
Eccentricity
0.1181
Inclination
13.73°
Orbital period
380.9 days
Perihelion
0.907 AU
Aphelion
1.15 AU
Longitude of ascending node
347.7°
Argument of periapsis
137.47°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 22.5 LD
0.0579 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.917

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
23
Data arc
16 days
First observed
10 September 2021
Last observed
26 September 2021
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 September 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.93

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 22 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 RO10 at 2044-10-02 23:39 UTC Sun 109.3 LD · 4.2 × 10⁷ km 2044-10-02 23:39 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-10-02 23:39 UTC close approach of 2021 RO10. Catalogue miss distance 109.3 LD · 4.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-09-29 to 2044-10-05, 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
2044-10-02 23:39:00 Earth 0.2808 AU 109.3 LD 11.8 km/s
2045-09-21 20:39:00 Earth 0.1032 AU 40.2 LD 7.7 km/s
2046-08-24 21:22:00 Earth 0.1843 AU 71.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2047-03-17 21:48:00 Earth 0.0711 AU 27.7 LD 8.3 km/s
2048-04-13 08:53:00 Earth 0.2984 AU 116.1 LD 13 km/s
2068-10-03 07:17:00 Earth 0.344 AU 133.9 LD 13.5 km/s
2069-09-26 19:48:00 Earth 0.1337 AU 52.0 LD 8.3 km/s

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

Sources