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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 PW2

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(2021 PW2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.782 AU
True anomaly
87.27°
Distance from Earth
1.776 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 PW2 — 0.782 AU from the Sun 2021 PW2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 PW2 is 1.776 AU from Earth today (14.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 42m 08s
Declination
-08° 01′ 24″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.78 AU
Elongation from the Sun
2.44° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.855 AU
Eccentricity
0.2721
Inclination
5.52°
Orbital period
289 days
Perihelion
0.623 AU
Aphelion
1.088 AU
Longitude of ascending node
126.85°
Argument of periapsis
350.9°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 16.4 LD
0.0422 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.859

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
18
Data arc
8 days
First observed
6 August 2021
Last observed
14 August 2021
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 August 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.68

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 42 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 PW2 at 2028-06-23 00:19 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-23 00:19 UTC close approach of 2021 PW2. Catalogue miss distance 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-20 to 2028-06-26, 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 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-23 00:19 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-23 00:19 UTC close approach of 2021 PW2. Catalogue miss distance 174.7 LD · 6.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-20 to 2028-06-26, 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
2028-06-23 00:19:00 Earth 0.449 AU 174.7 LD 19.9 km/s
2029-01-17 00:06:00 Earth 0.3612 AU 140.6 LD 12.7 km/s
2029-08-16 04:15:00 Earth 0.489 AU 190.3 LD 21.3 km/s
2030-07-15 08:34:00 Venus 0.0521 AU 20.3 LD 7.6 km/s
2032-06-13 23:29:00 Earth 0.2053 AU 79.9 LD 12.1 km/s
2078-08-28 09:16:00 Earth 0.1231 AU 47.9 LD 9.7 km/s
2082-01-30 18:08:00 Earth 0.3596 AU 140.0 LD 12.6 km/s
2082-08-20 07:56:00 Earth 0.3833 AU 149.2 LD 18 km/s
2085-06-16 17:28:00 Earth 0.2946 AU 114.7 LD 15 km/s

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

Sources