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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 KC

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(2021 KC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.904 AU
True anomaly
37.65°
Distance from Earth
1.48 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 KC — 0.904 AU from the Sun 2021 KC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 KC is 1.48 AU from Earth today (12.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 58m 21s
Declination
+09° 47′ 56″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.61° — 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
0.966 AU
Eccentricity
0.079
Inclination
15.19°
Orbital period
347 days
Perihelion
0.89 AU
Aphelion
1.043 AU
Longitude of ascending node
61.3°
Argument of periapsis
35.72°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.4 LD
0.0138 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.214

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
123
Data arc
25 days
First observed
16 May 2021
Last observed
10 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.46

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 76 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 KC at 2039-05-25 11:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-05-25 11:17 UTC close approach of 2021 KC. Catalogue miss distance 124.1 LD · 4.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-05-22 to 2039-05-28, 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 124.1 LD · 4.77 × 10⁷ km 2039-05-25 11:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-05-25 11:17 UTC close approach of 2021 KC. Catalogue miss distance 124.1 LD · 4.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-05-22 to 2039-05-28, 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
2039-05-25 11:17:00 Earth 0.3188 AU 124.1 LD 13.2 km/s
2040-01-17 13:09:00 Earth 0.2788 AU 108.5 LD 8.7 km/s
2040-05-21 16:03:00 Earth 0.0249 AU 9.7 LD 7.9 km/s
2040-11-22 04:13:00 Earth 0.0814 AU 31.7 LD 8.5 km/s
2041-05-28 21:28:00 Earth 0.2584 AU 100.6 LD 10 km/s
2041-10-16 16:29:00 Earth 0.2761 AU 107.4 LD 11.5 km/s
2059-05-24 14:06:00 Earth 0.2706 AU 105.3 LD 12 km/s
2060-01-02 06:23:00 Earth 0.2465 AU 95.9 LD 9.3 km/s
2060-05-21 21:54:00 Earth 0.0205 AU 8.0 LD 7.8 km/s
2060-11-16 01:28:00 Earth 0.0916 AU 35.6 LD 8.7 km/s

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

Sources