Skip to content
Public Universe
Centaur

2021 GT72

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2021 GT72)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.949 AU
True anomaly
163.58°
Distance from Earth
7.079 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 GT72 — 7.949 AU from the Sun 2021 GT72
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 GT72 is 7.079 AU from Earth today (58.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 03m 14s
Declination
+21° 16′ 02″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
7.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
149.57° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
5.621 AU
Eccentricity
0.4641
Inclination
9.2°
Orbital period
13.33 years
Perihelion
3.013 AU
Aphelion
8.23 AU
Longitude of ascending node
247.38°
Argument of periapsis
354.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 778.5 LD
2.0004 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.743

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
31
Data arc
511 days
First observed
7 April 2021
Last observed
31 August 2022
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.07

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2085-08-31 12:43:00 Juptr 1.4913 AU 580.4 LD 10.1 km/s
2097-04-27 02:29:00 Juptr 1.9797 AU 770.4 LD 4.7 km/s
2129-01-27 06:13:00 Juptr 1.1666 AU 454.0 LD 8.9 km/s
2148-12-15 02:41:00 Satrn 1.2083 AU 470.2 LD 3.7 km/s
2192-07-21 01:17:00 Juptr 1.1572 AU 450.4 LD 9 km/s

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

Sources