2021 VH is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.82 AU to 1.17 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 361.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 31 January 2024.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.035 AU
- True anomaly
- 113.45°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.212 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 08h 26m 55s
- Declination
- +18° 20′ 05″
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Distance from Earth
- 0.21 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 96.56° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.994 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1733
- Inclination
- 0.61°
- Orbital period
- 361.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.821 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.166 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 217.32°
- Argument of periapsis
- 81.32°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 0.1 LD
- 0.0001 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.097
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).
- Observations used
- 66
- Data arc
- 6 days
- First observed
- 1 November 2021
- Last observed
- 7 November 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.39 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 31 January 2024
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 29.64
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 73 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-24 01:41 UTC close approach of 2021 VH. Catalogue miss distance 64.6 LD · 2.48 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-21 to 2026-12-27, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-24 01:41:00 | Earth | 0.1661 AU | 64.6 LD | 4.8 km/s |
| 2027-08-10 02:01:00 | Earth | 0.1876 AU | 73.0 LD | 6 km/s |
| 2028-01-05 17:59:00 | Earth | 0.1779 AU | 69.2 LD | 5.1 km/s |
| 2028-07-26 15:29:00 | Earth | 0.194 AU | 75.5 LD | 6.2 km/s |
| 2029-01-16 18:59:00 | Earth | 0.1821 AU | 70.9 LD | 5.2 km/s |
| 2029-07-13 13:16:00 | Earth | 0.1944 AU | 75.7 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2030-01-28 19:07:00 | Earth | 0.1791 AU | 69.7 LD | 5.1 km/s |
| 2030-06-30 06:37:00 | Earth | 0.1889 AU | 73.5 LD | 6 km/s |
| 2031-02-10 07:06:00 | Earth | 0.1685 AU | 65.6 LD | 4.9 km/s |
| 2031-06-16 04:15:00 | Earth | 0.177 AU | 68.9 LD | 5.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB