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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2021 PC7

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(2021 PC7)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.089 AU
True anomaly
184.58°
Distance from Earth
1.047 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 PC7 — 1.089 AU from the Sun 2021 PC7
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 PC7 is 1.047 AU from Earth today (8.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 57m 13s
Declination
-40° 54′ 37″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.31° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.83 AU
Eccentricity
0.3133
Inclination
35.37°
Orbital period
276.2 days
Perihelion
0.57 AU
Aphelion
1.09 AU
Longitude of ascending node
352.96°
Argument of periapsis
145.39°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.9 LD
0.0024 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.888

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
55
Data arc
9.05 years
First observed
26 July 2015
Last observed
14 August 2024
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 August 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.39

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 155 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 PC7 at 2027-03-15 23:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-15 23:45 UTC close approach of 2021 PC7. Catalogue miss distance 153.7 LD · 5.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-12 to 2027-03-18, 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 153.7 LD · 5.91 × 10⁷ km 2027-03-15 23:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-15 23:45 UTC close approach of 2021 PC7. Catalogue miss distance 153.7 LD · 5.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-12 to 2027-03-18, 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
2027-03-15 23:45:00 Earth 0.395 AU 153.7 LD 25.6 km/s
2027-09-10 14:57:00 Earth 0.2546 AU 99.1 LD 22.3 km/s
2030-03-28 05:58:00 Earth 0.3952 AU 153.8 LD 25.4 km/s
2030-09-14 00:37:00 Earth 0.12 AU 46.7 LD 19.8 km/s
2033-04-09 07:55:00 Earth 0.4176 AU 162.5 LD 25.1 km/s
2033-09-16 04:19:00 Earth 0.0108 AU 4.2 LD 18 km/s
2036-04-07 16:00:00 Venus 0.1402 AU 54.6 LD 25.3 km/s
2036-04-24 07:17:00 Earth 0.4675 AU 181.9 LD 24.6 km/s
2036-09-16 18:15:00 Earth 0.1691 AU 65.8 LD 17.2 km/s
2039-09-15 14:19:00 Earth 0.3221 AU 125.3 LD 17.8 km/s

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

Sources