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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 TK13

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(2021 TK13)

2021 TK13 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.83 AU to 1.14 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 356.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 January 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.14 AU
True anomaly
181.78°
Distance from Earth
0.495 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 TK13 — 1.14 AU from the Sun 2021 TK13
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 TK13 is 0.495 AU from Earth today (4.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 29m 41s
Declination
+13° 02′ 38″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.49 AU
Elongation from the Sun
94.33° — 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
0.984 AU
Eccentricity
0.1582
Inclination
5.17°
Orbital period
356.8 days
Perihelion
0.829 AU
Aphelion
1.14 AU
Longitude of ascending node
217.51°
Argument of periapsis
26.65°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 24.1 LD
0.0618 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.141

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
49
Data arc
4.28 years
First observed
3 October 2021
Last observed
14 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.41

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 97 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 TK13 at 2027-02-10 18:41 UTC Sun 66.6 LD · 2.56 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-10 18:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-10 18:41 UTC close approach of 2021 TK13. Catalogue miss distance 66.6 LD · 2.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-07 to 2027-02-13, 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
2027-02-10 18:41:00 Earth 0.171 AU 66.6 LD 9.7 km/s
2030-04-02 11:15:00 Venus 0.1092 AU 42.5 LD 5 km/s
2058-07-13 15:28:00 Venus 0.1115 AU 43.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2061-09-21 20:05:00 Earth 0.159 AU 61.9 LD 9.6 km/s
2062-09-21 19:39:00 Earth 0.0617 AU 24.0 LD 5.6 km/s
2063-08-04 08:20:00 Earth 0.1559 AU 60.7 LD 3.5 km/s
2063-10-20 17:40:00 Earth 0.1182 AU 46.0 LD 4.6 km/s
2064-06-18 20:12:00 Earth 0.1892 AU 73.6 LD 5.9 km/s
2064-11-21 16:08:00 Earth 0.158 AU 61.5 LD 5.1 km/s
2065-05-17 10:26:00 Earth 0.1839 AU 71.6 LD 6.3 km/s

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

Sources