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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 WH3

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(2021 WH3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.909 AU
True anomaly
113.57°
Distance from Earth
0.336 AU
As of
20 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 WH3 — 0.909 AU from the Sun 2021 WH3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 WH3 is 0.336 AU from Earth today (2.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 40m 30s
Declination
+16° 22′ 28″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.34 AU
Elongation from the Sun
65.64° — 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.

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
0.879 AU
Eccentricity
0.3014
Inclination
4.68°
Orbital period
301 days
Perihelion
0.614 AU
Aphelion
1.144 AU
Longitude of ascending node
237.77°
Argument of periapsis
55.61°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.6 LD
0.0066 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.701

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
41
Data arc
13 days
First observed
29 November 2021
Last observed
12 December 2021
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 105 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 WH3 at 2027-01-18 16:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-18 16:10 UTC close approach of 2021 WH3. Catalogue miss distance 68.3 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-15 to 2027-01-21, 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 68.3 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-18 16:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-18 16:10 UTC close approach of 2021 WH3. Catalogue miss distance 68.3 LD · 2.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-15 to 2027-01-21, 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
2027-01-18 16:10:00 Earth 0.1756 AU 68.3 LD 7.1 km/s
2027-04-27 15:33:00 Earth 0.2784 AU 108.3 LD 7.2 km/s
2029-01-14 05:15:00 Venus 0.0906 AU 35.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2030-12-06 04:03:00 Earth 0.3965 AU 154.3 LD 21.5 km/s
2031-07-21 05:26:00 Venus 0.1287 AU 50.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2031-08-04 04:29:00 Earth 0.3982 AU 155.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2032-03-04 20:18:00 Earth 0.0978 AU 38.1 LD 10.7 km/s
2034-01-24 03:25:00 Venus 0.1362 AU 53.0 LD 8.6 km/s
2035-11-25 06:21:00 Earth 0.0639 AU 24.9 LD 11 km/s
2036-06-24 23:51:00 Earth 0.3953 AU 153.8 LD 13.6 km/s

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

Sources