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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 WO

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(2021 WO)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.905 AU
True anomaly
238.37°
Distance from Earth
1.646 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 WO — 0.905 AU from the Sun 2021 WO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 WO is 1.646 AU from Earth today (13.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 45m 56s
Declination
-05° 00′ 23″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.42° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.838 AU
Eccentricity
0.2789
Inclination
12.48°
Orbital period
280 days
Perihelion
0.604 AU
Aphelion
1.071 AU
Longitude of ascending node
208.13°
Argument of periapsis
59.82°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 23.6 LD
0.0606 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.965

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
83
Data arc
3.32 years
First observed
7 November 2018
Last observed
2 March 2022
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.92

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 220 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 WO at 2028-08-02 06:55 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-02 06:55 UTC close approach of 2021 WO. Catalogue miss distance 160.7 LD · 6.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-30 to 2028-08-05, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 160.7 LD · 6.18 × 10⁷ km 2028-08-02 06:55 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-08-02 06:55 UTC close approach of 2021 WO. Catalogue miss distance 160.7 LD · 6.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-07-30 to 2028-08-05, 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 north 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
2028-08-02 06:55:00 Earth 0.4129 AU 160.7 LD 11.5 km/s
2029-02-03 05:25:00 Earth 0.2656 AU 103.4 LD 13.8 km/s
2031-11-07 04:41:00 Earth 0.1506 AU 58.6 LD 7.3 km/s
2032-03-25 05:47:00 Earth 0.2687 AU 104.6 LD 9.5 km/s
2034-11-12 04:46:00 Earth 0.2633 AU 102.5 LD 17 km/s
2035-05-19 10:26:00 Earth 0.3994 AU 155.4 LD 14.1 km/s
2038-07-05 15:31:00 Earth 0.4401 AU 171.3 LD 13.9 km/s
2039-01-24 01:09:00 Earth 0.4386 AU 170.7 LD 20.5 km/s
2040-11-30 19:02:00 Venus 0.1432 AU 55.7 LD 14.3 km/s
2041-09-02 22:46:00 Earth 0.345 AU 134.3 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources