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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 AM2

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(2021 AM2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.985 AU
True anomaly
225.54°
Distance from Earth
1.275 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 AM2 — 0.985 AU from the Sun 2021 AM2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 AM2 is 1.275 AU from Earth today (10.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 54m 47s
Declination
+07° 28′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
49.55° — 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
0.975 AU
Eccentricity
0.0141
Inclination
8.4°
Orbital period
351.7 days
Perihelion
0.961 AU
Aphelion
0.989 AU
Longitude of ascending node
107.54°
Argument of periapsis
138.52°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.7 LD
0.0019 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.192

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
95
Data arc
5 days
First observed
7 January 2021
Last observed
12 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 July 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.18

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 52 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 AM2 at 2044-12-17 01:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-12-17 01:56 UTC close approach of 2021 AM2. Catalogue miss distance 188.2 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-12-14 to 2044-12-20, 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. Sun 188.2 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km 2044-12-17 01:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-12-17 01:56 UTC close approach of 2021 AM2. Catalogue miss distance 188.2 LD · 7.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-12-14 to 2044-12-20, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-12-17 01:56:00 Earth 0.4835 AU 188.2 LD 15.1 km/s
2045-12-30 17:08:00 Earth 0.2589 AU 100.7 LD 8.8 km/s
2046-08-02 17:20:00 Earth 0.1017 AU 39.6 LD 5.1 km/s
2047-01-07 14:26:00 Earth 0.0356 AU 13.9 LD 4.5 km/s
2047-06-17 04:51:00 Earth 0.1035 AU 40.3 LD 4.9 km/s
2048-01-09 12:10:00 Earth 0.1689 AU 65.7 LD 7.1 km/s
2049-01-06 22:46:00 Earth 0.3798 AU 147.8 LD 12.8 km/s
2073-12-26 20:04:00 Earth 0.3332 AU 129.7 LD 10.8 km/s
2074-08-19 04:33:00 Earth 0.1695 AU 66.0 LD 6.2 km/s
2075-01-05 05:52:00 Earth 0.1254 AU 48.8 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources