Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 FC

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2021 FC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.985 AU
True anomaly
109.73°
Distance from Earth
1.88 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 FC — 0.985 AU from the Sun 2021 FC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 FC is 1.88 AU from Earth today (15.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 43m 25s
Declination
-04° 35′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.23° — 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
0.956 AU
Eccentricity
0.1952
Inclination
3.37°
Orbital period
341.6 days
Perihelion
0.77 AU
Aphelion
1.143 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.66°
Argument of periapsis
67.35°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.0 LD
0 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.28

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
79
Data arc
5 days
First observed
17 March 2021
Last observed
22 March 2021
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.25

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 90 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 FC at 2035-03-21 17:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-03-21 17:27 UTC close approach of 2021 FC. Catalogue miss distance 69.6 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-03-18 to 2035-03-24, 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 69.6 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km 2035-03-21 17:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-03-21 17:27 UTC close approach of 2021 FC. Catalogue miss distance 69.6 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-03-18 to 2035-03-24, 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
2035-03-21 17:27:00 Earth 0.1788 AU 69.6 LD 10.8 km/s
2036-01-10 03:04:00 Earth 0.1866 AU 72.6 LD 5.2 km/s
2036-05-10 19:59:00 Earth 0.1398 AU 54.4 LD 4.5 km/s
2036-10-16 23:50:00 Earth 0.2016 AU 78.4 LD 6.2 km/s
2037-07-26 17:04:00 Earth 0.1188 AU 46.2 LD 8.7 km/s
2038-07-09 14:01:00 Earth 0.4998 AU 194.5 LD 20.2 km/s
2047-03-20 05:21:00 Venus 0.1089 AU 42.4 LD 2.5 km/s
2049-01-13 01:50:00 Venus 0.1122 AU 43.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2049-03-28 19:45:00 Earth 0.3511 AU 136.6 LD 16 km/s
2050-03-20 01:06:00 Earth 0.0493 AU 19.2 LD 4.3 km/s

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

Sources