2021 VH2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.94 AU to 1.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 376.3 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 27 July 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.065 AU
- True anomaly
- 232.18°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.733 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 19h 52m 07s
- Declination
- -19° 37′ 29″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 0.73 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 74.5° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
From your location
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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
- 1.02 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0787
- Inclination
- 1.33°
- Orbital period
- 376.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.94 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.1 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 222.43°
- Argument of periapsis
- 265.13°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 1.7 LD
- 0.0044 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.984
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 47
- Data arc
- 2.51 years
- First observed
- 27 October 2021
- Last observed
- 1 May 2024
- Residual RMS
- 0.32 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 27 July 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 28.8
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 44 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2056-11-14 21:35 UTC close approach of 2021 VH2. Catalogue miss distance 8.31 LD · 3.2 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2056-11-11 to 2056-11-17, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2056-11-14 21:35:00 | Earth | 0.0214 AU | 8.3 LD | 2.6 km/s |
| 2057-09-21 03:02:00 | Earth | 0.0657 AU | 25.6 LD | 1.7 km/s |
| 2058-01-25 03:52:00 | Earth | 0.0554 AU | 21.5 LD | 1.7 km/s |
| 2058-07-18 15:55:00 | Earth | 0.076 AU | 29.6 LD | 1.9 km/s |
| 2059-04-28 20:43:00 | Earth | 0.0087 AU | 3.4 LD | 1.9 km/s |
| 2059-05-01 19:15:00 | Moon | 0.0069 AU | 2.7 LD | 2.8 km/s |
| 2060-03-25 04:18:00 | Earth | 0.0473 AU | 18.4 LD | 1.2 km/s |
| 2060-05-25 23:51:00 | Earth | 0.0436 AU | 16.9 LD | 1.4 km/s |
| 2061-02-02 02:50:00 | Earth | 0.0694 AU | 27.0 LD | 2 km/s |
| 2061-07-10 01:41:00 | Earth | 0.0603 AU | 23.5 LD | 1.7 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