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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 FB

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(2021 FB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.036 AU
True anomaly
200.07°
Distance from Earth
1.996 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 FB — 1.036 AU from the Sun 2021 FB
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 FB is 1.996 AU from Earth today (16.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 13m 51s
Declination
-17° 28′ 54″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
11.01° — too close to the Sun to observe

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.843 AU
Eccentricity
0.2545
Inclination
9.75°
Orbital period
282.6 days
Perihelion
0.628 AU
Aphelion
1.057 AU
Longitude of ascending node
358.43°
Argument of periapsis
28.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.6 LD
0.0145 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.941

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
151
Data arc
6 days
First observed
17 March 2021
Last observed
23 March 2021
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 December 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.02

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 82 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 FB at 2028-04-26 15:13 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-26 15:13 UTC close approach of 2021 FB. Catalogue miss distance 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-23 to 2028-04-29, 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 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-26 15:13 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-26 15:13 UTC close approach of 2021 FB. Catalogue miss distance 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-23 to 2028-04-29, 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
2028-04-26 15:13:00 Earth 0.1305 AU 50.8 LD 6.7 km/s
2028-09-10 08:26:00 Venus 0.1373 AU 53.4 LD 7.4 km/s
2028-10-21 15:00:00 Venus 0.141 AU 54.9 LD 7 km/s
2031-03-17 17:02:00 Earth 0.3341 AU 130.0 LD 16.8 km/s
2031-09-16 09:20:00 Earth 0.3542 AU 137.8 LD 12.5 km/s
2031-11-13 02:19:00 Venus 0.1078 AU 42.0 LD 10.7 km/s
2034-11-27 23:22:00 Earth 0.3536 AU 137.6 LD 10.6 km/s
2035-05-16 04:41:00 Earth 0.2567 AU 99.9 LD 12.1 km/s
2038-03-12 02:14:00 Earth 0.1217 AU 47.4 LD 10.3 km/s
2038-08-17 16:28:00 Earth 0.3167 AU 123.3 LD 9.9 km/s

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

Sources