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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 US2

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(2021 US2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.973 AU
True anomaly
267.37°
Distance from Earth
1.05 AU
As of
24 October 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 US2 — 0.973 AU from the Sun 2021 US2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 US2 is 1.05 AU from Earth today (8.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 44m 21s
Declination
+35° 01′ 22″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
1.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.69° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.974 AU
Eccentricity
0.0683
Inclination
38.37°
Orbital period
351.2 days
Perihelion
0.908 AU
Aphelion
1.041 AU
Longitude of ascending node
35.62°
Argument of periapsis
153.76°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 15.2 LD
0.039 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.018

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
138
Data arc
13 days
First observed
23 October 2021
Last observed
5 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 43 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 US2 at 2044-11-05 22:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-11-05 22:04 UTC close approach of 2021 US2. Catalogue miss distance 180.9 LD · 6.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-11-02 to 2044-11-08, 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. Sun 180.9 LD · 6.95 × 10⁷ km 2044-11-05 22:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-11-05 22:04 UTC close approach of 2021 US2. Catalogue miss distance 180.9 LD · 6.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-11-02 to 2044-11-08, 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
2044-11-05 22:04:00 Earth 0.4649 AU 180.9 LD 23.3 km/s
2045-11-02 13:32:00 Earth 0.2505 AU 97.5 LD 20.4 km/s
2046-10-30 01:45:00 Earth 0.0493 AU 19.2 LD 19.2 km/s
2047-10-26 04:53:00 Earth 0.1928 AU 75.0 LD 20.2 km/s
2048-10-20 17:17:00 Earth 0.4078 AU 158.7 LD 23 km/s
2120-11-06 03:51:00 Earth 0.4017 AU 156.3 LD 22.3 km/s
2121-11-02 19:02:00 Earth 0.1881 AU 73.2 LD 19.9 km/s
2122-10-30 05:23:00 Earth 0.0518 AU 20.2 LD 19.3 km/s
2123-10-26 03:42:00 Earth 0.2561 AU 99.7 LD 20.8 km/s
2124-04-04 05:57:00 Earth 0.4348 AU 169.2 LD 23.9 km/s

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

Sources