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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 UF1

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(2021 UF1)

2021 UF1 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.74 AU to 1.31 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 380 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 November 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.277 AU
True anomaly
200.99°
Distance from Earth
1.053 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 UF1 — 1.277 AU from the Sun 2021 UF1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 UF1 is 1.053 AU from Earth today (8.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 51m 47s
Declination
-06° 51′ 20″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
1.06 AU
Elongation from the Sun
77° — 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
1.027 AU
Eccentricity
0.2754
Inclination
14.9°
Orbital period
380 days
Perihelion
0.744 AU
Aphelion
1.31 AU
Longitude of ascending node
218.56°
Argument of periapsis
288.17°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 11.8 LD
0.0304 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.893

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
70
Data arc
19 days
First observed
25 October 2021
Last observed
13 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.06

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 75 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 UF1 at 2027-06-07 16:05 UTC Sun 130.8 LD · 5.03 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-07 16:05 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-07 16:05 UTC close approach of 2021 UF1. Catalogue miss distance 130.8 LD · 5.03 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-04 to 2027-06-10, 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
2027-06-07 16:05:00 Earth 0.3361 AU 130.8 LD 18.9 km/s
2038-10-18 14:10:00 Venus 0.1395 AU 54.3 LD 13.1 km/s
2045-10-22 21:14:00 Earth 0.4071 AU 158.4 LD 21.6 km/s
2046-11-01 23:34:00 Earth 0.1603 AU 62.4 LD 14.7 km/s
2047-11-06 19:26:00 Earth 0.0972 AU 37.8 LD 9.2 km/s
2052-05-01 08:36:00 Venus 0.1349 AU 52.5 LD 12.1 km/s
2052-05-28 01:00:00 Earth 0.1905 AU 74.2 LD 14.7 km/s
2053-06-11 22:04:00 Earth 0.4155 AU 161.7 LD 21.1 km/s
2065-11-13 08:23:00 Venus 0.1403 AU 54.6 LD 11.6 km/s
2071-10-27 21:52:00 Earth 0.3012 AU 117.2 LD 18.6 km/s

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

Sources