Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 TC1

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2021 TC1)

2021 TC1 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.76 AU to 1.25 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 368.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 27 September 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.966 AU
True anomaly
264.63°
Distance from Earth
0.251 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 TC1 — 0.966 AU from the Sun 2021 TC1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 TC1 is 0.251 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 54m 51s
Declination
-13° 25′ 47″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
76.8° — 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
1.005 AU
Eccentricity
0.2465
Inclination
2.32°
Orbital period
368.1 days
Perihelion
0.757 AU
Aphelion
1.253 AU
Longitude of ascending node
260.92°
Argument of periapsis
221.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 8.7 LD
0.0225 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.028

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
45
Data arc
359 days
First observed
3 October 2021
Last observed
27 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.34

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 158 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 TC1 at 2026-12-11 01:42 UTC Sun 73.9 LD · 2.84 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-11 01:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-11 01:42 UTC close approach of 2021 TC1. Catalogue miss distance 73.9 LD · 2.84 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-08 to 2026-12-14, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2026-12-11 01:42:00 Earth 0.19 AU 73.9 LD 6.4 km/s
2027-08-26 07:51:00 Earth 0.2109 AU 82.1 LD 5.7 km/s
2027-12-22 07:42:00 Earth 0.2055 AU 80.0 LD 7.1 km/s
2028-08-16 23:29:00 Earth 0.2243 AU 87.3 LD 6 km/s
2028-12-31 18:25:00 Earth 0.2165 AU 84.3 LD 7.6 km/s
2029-08-09 03:12:00 Earth 0.2333 AU 90.8 LD 6.2 km/s
2030-01-09 18:59:00 Venus 0.0797 AU 31.0 LD 4.2 km/s
2030-01-10 15:52:00 Earth 0.2238 AU 87.1 LD 7.9 km/s
2030-08-01 06:46:00 Earth 0.2394 AU 93.2 LD 6.3 km/s
2031-01-21 03:49:00 Earth 0.2276 AU 88.6 LD 8 km/s

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

Sources