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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 KH2

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(2021 KH2)

2021 KH2 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.01 AU to 1.05 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 380.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 22 March 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.009 AU
True anomaly
24.21°
Distance from Earth
1.218 AU
As of
4 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 KH2 — 1.009 AU from the Sun 2021 KH2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 KH2 is 1.218 AU from Earth today (10.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 22m 54s
Declination
-13° 10′ 59″
Constellation
Scutum
Distance from Earth
1.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
53.15° — 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
1.028 AU
Eccentricity
0.0203
Inclination
12.29°
Orbital period
380.7 days
Perihelion
1.007 AU
Aphelion
1.049 AU
Longitude of ascending node
240.88°
Argument of periapsis
62.64°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 2.3 LD
0.0059 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.93

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
86
Data arc
189 days
First observed
21 May 2021
Last observed
26 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 March 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.32

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 75 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 KH2 at 2044-05-07 18:25 UTC Sun 168.8 LD · 6.49 × 10⁷ km 2044-05-07 18:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2044-05-07 18:25 UTC close approach of 2021 KH2. Catalogue miss distance 168.8 LD · 6.49 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2044-05-04 to 2044-05-10, 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
2044-05-07 18:25:00 Earth 0.4338 AU 168.8 LD 15 km/s
2045-05-16 14:35:00 Earth 0.1762 AU 68.6 LD 8.7 km/s
2045-12-05 11:14:00 Earth 0.1629 AU 63.4 LD 7.1 km/s
2046-05-25 06:14:00 Earth 0.0796 AU 31.0 LD 6.5 km/s
2046-11-16 14:27:00 Earth 0.0973 AU 37.9 LD 7.1 km/s
2047-06-02 20:25:00 Earth 0.3417 AU 133.0 LD 11.1 km/s
2047-11-06 15:47:00 Earth 0.3412 AU 132.8 LD 12 km/s
2068-05-06 21:41:00 Earth 0.4708 AU 183.2 LD 15.9 km/s
2069-05-15 15:58:00 Earth 0.2069 AU 80.5 LD 9.4 km/s
2069-12-08 22:08:00 Earth 0.1859 AU 72.4 LD 7.3 km/s

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

Sources