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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 BS3

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(2021 BS3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.774 AU
True anomaly
249.24°
Distance from Earth
1.755 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 BS3 — 0.774 AU from the Sun 2021 BS3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 BS3 is 1.755 AU from Earth today (14.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 16m 14s
Declination
-03° 11′ 24″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
6.72° — 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
0.782 AU
Eccentricity
0.3768
Inclination
13.48°
Orbital period
252.6 days
Perihelion
0.487 AU
Aphelion
1.077 AU
Longitude of ascending node
142.99°
Argument of periapsis
160.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 14.2 LD
0.0365 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.352

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
143
Data arc
10.98 years
First observed
28 January 2012
Last observed
20 January 2023
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.71

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 206 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 BS3 at 2028-02-13 19:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-13 19:10 UTC close approach of 2021 BS3. Catalogue miss distance 168.5 LD · 6.48 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-10 to 2028-02-16, 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 168.5 LD · 6.48 × 10⁷ km 2028-02-13 19:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-02-13 19:10 UTC close approach of 2021 BS3. Catalogue miss distance 168.5 LD · 6.48 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-10 to 2028-02-16, 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
2028-02-13 19:10:00 Earth 0.4329 AU 168.5 LD 24.2 km/s
2029-07-19 20:01:00 Venus 0.1331 AU 51.8 LD 11.8 km/s
2029-10-06 16:43:00 Earth 0.4264 AU 165.9 LD 13.3 km/s
2030-02-19 16:35:00 Earth 0.04 AU 15.6 LD 11.2 km/s
2031-12-31 21:31:00 Earth 0.1839 AU 71.6 LD 11.2 km/s
2032-05-15 01:11:00 Earth 0.4574 AU 178.0 LD 11.7 km/s
2035-02-02 02:46:00 Venus 0.1148 AU 44.7 LD 13 km/s
2037-02-10 19:31:00 Earth 0.4924 AU 191.6 LD 26.2 km/s
2038-09-28 15:09:00 Earth 0.4457 AU 173.5 LD 15.1 km/s
2039-02-21 17:48:00 Earth 0.0825 AU 32.1 LD 12.8 km/s

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

Sources