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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 NM

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(2021 NM)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.51 AU
True anomaly
317.1°
Distance from Earth
1.015 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 NM — 0.51 AU from the Sun 2021 NM
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 NM is 1.015 AU from Earth today (8.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 01m 37s
Declination
-00° 27′ 46″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.02 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.12° — 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
0.946 AU
Eccentricity
0.5102
Inclination
2.14°
Orbital period
336.2 days
Perihelion
0.463 AU
Aphelion
1.429 AU
Longitude of ascending node
273.55°
Argument of periapsis
236.19°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.0 LD
0.0025 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.232

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
17
Data arc
2 days
First observed
4 July 2021
Last observed
6 July 2021
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.23

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 70 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 NM at 2032-07-08 21:30 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-07-08 21:30 UTC close approach of 2021 NM. Catalogue miss distance 106.4 LD · 4.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-07-05 to 2032-07-11, 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 106.4 LD · 4.09 × 10⁷ km 2032-07-08 21:30 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-07-08 21:30 UTC close approach of 2021 NM. Catalogue miss distance 106.4 LD · 4.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-07-05 to 2032-07-11, 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
2032-07-08 21:30:00 Earth 0.2733 AU 106.4 LD 23.5 km/s
2033-07-01 16:24:00 Earth 0.1855 AU 72.2 LD 10.7 km/s
2036-10-17 07:31:00 Earth 0.0357 AU 13.9 LD 15.4 km/s
2037-09-28 15:25:00 Earth 0.4798 AU 186.7 LD 30.1 km/s
2055-07-16 00:05:00 Earth 0.4134 AU 160.9 LD 27.9 km/s
2056-06-28 09:10:00 Earth 0.036 AU 14.0 LD 14.1 km/s
2057-04-29 05:17:00 Venus 0.0528 AU 20.6 LD 20.5 km/s
2057-07-30 17:33:00 Earth 0.3696 AU 143.8 LD 11.4 km/s
2058-09-04 03:47:00 Earth 0.4098 AU 159.5 LD 11.9 km/s
2059-01-15 20:13:00 Earth 0.4858 AU 189.0 LD 20 km/s

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

Sources