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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 GN1

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(2021 GN1)

2021 GN1 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.81 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 364.6 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 4 April 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.922 AU
True anomaly
283.44°
Distance from Earth
0.571 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 GN1 — 0.922 AU from the Sun 2021 GN1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 GN1 is 0.571 AU from Earth today (4.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 18m 27s
Declination
-28° 01′ 03″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.09° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.999 AU
Eccentricity
0.1893
Inclination
26.9°
Orbital period
364.6 days
Perihelion
0.81 AU
Aphelion
1.188 AU
Longitude of ascending node
14.12°
Argument of periapsis
68.64°
Epoch · J2000
2459308.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.4 LD
0.0318 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.977

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
31
Data arc
3 days
First observed
3 April 2021
Last observed
6 April 2021
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 April 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.42

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 GN1 at 2027-04-02 02:25 UTC Sun 44.5 LD · 1.71 × 10⁷ km 2027-04-02 02:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-02 02:25 UTC close approach of 2021 GN1. Catalogue miss distance 44.5 LD · 1.71 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-30 to 2027-04-05, 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
2027-04-02 02:25:00 Earth 0.1143 AU 44.5 LD 13.7 km/s
2028-04-01 07:22:00 Earth 0.1368 AU 53.2 LD 13.6 km/s
2029-04-01 14:27:00 Earth 0.1604 AU 62.4 LD 13.6 km/s
2030-04-02 00:50:00 Earth 0.185 AU 72.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2031-04-02 12:14:00 Earth 0.2102 AU 81.8 LD 13.6 km/s
2032-04-02 04:01:00 Earth 0.2356 AU 91.7 LD 13.6 km/s
2033-04-02 23:18:00 Earth 0.2611 AU 101.6 LD 13.7 km/s
2034-04-03 20:54:00 Earth 0.2869 AU 111.6 LD 13.8 km/s
2035-04-05 01:21:00 Earth 0.3124 AU 121.6 LD 14 km/s
2036-04-05 06:44:00 Earth 0.3375 AU 131.3 LD 14.1 km/s

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

Sources