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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 WF2

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(2021 WF2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.689 AU
True anomaly
43.72°
Distance from Earth
1.654 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 WF2 — 0.689 AU from the Sun 2021 WF2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 WF2 is 1.654 AU from Earth today (13.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 27m 20s
Declination
-12° 06′ 09″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.66 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.03° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.949 AU
Eccentricity
0.323
Inclination
18.26°
Orbital period
337.5 days
Perihelion
0.642 AU
Aphelion
1.255 AU
Longitude of ascending node
68.46°
Argument of periapsis
117.38°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.1 LD
0.0079 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.252

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
48
Data arc
4 days
First observed
28 November 2021
Last observed
2 December 2021
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.04

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 84 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 WF2 at 2031-07-12 04:54 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-07-12 04:54 UTC close approach of 2021 WF2. Catalogue miss distance 92.1 LD · 3.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-07-09 to 2031-07-15, 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 92.1 LD · 3.54 × 10⁷ km 2031-07-12 04:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-07-12 04:54 UTC close approach of 2021 WF2. Catalogue miss distance 92.1 LD · 3.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-07-09 to 2031-07-15, 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
2031-07-12 04:54:00 Earth 0.2366 AU 92.1 LD 15.2 km/s
2032-05-16 06:08:00 Earth 0.3181 AU 123.8 LD 14 km/s
2032-10-06 09:45:00 Earth 0.4063 AU 158.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2033-03-14 20:25:00 Earth 0.4261 AU 165.8 LD 13.3 km/s
2033-12-02 07:14:00 Earth 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 11.3 km/s
2034-11-19 20:11:00 Earth 0.362 AU 140.9 LD 22.7 km/s
2043-07-16 01:51:00 Earth 0.2574 AU 100.2 LD 16.1 km/s
2044-05-22 02:57:00 Earth 0.3005 AU 117.0 LD 13.7 km/s
2045-12-01 08:05:00 Earth 0.1392 AU 54.2 LD 10.7 km/s
2046-11-21 05:37:00 Earth 0.3249 AU 126.4 LD 21.6 km/s

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

Sources