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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 PE9

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(2021 PE9)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.772 AU
True anomaly
275.38°
Distance from Earth
0.822 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 PE9 — 0.772 AU from the Sun 2021 PE9
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 PE9 is 0.822 AU from Earth today (6.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 01m 47s
Declination
+13° 37′ 39″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.86° — 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
0.951 AU
Eccentricity
0.398
Inclination
22.28°
Orbital period
338.9 days
Perihelion
0.573 AU
Aphelion
1.33 AU
Longitude of ascending node
281.63°
Argument of periapsis
244.21°
Epoch · J2000
2459441.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.6 LD
0.0324 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.195

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
16
Data arc
23 days
First observed
8 August 2021
Last observed
31 August 2021
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
8 July 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.06

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 13 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 PE9 at 2059-07-20 04:36 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2059-07-20 04:36 UTC close approach of 2021 PE9. Catalogue miss distance 120.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2059-07-17 to 2059-07-23, 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 120.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁷ km 2059-07-20 04:36 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2059-07-20 04:36 UTC close approach of 2021 PE9. Catalogue miss distance 120.0 LD · 4.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2059-07-17 to 2059-07-23, 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
2058-07-31 01:30:00 Venus 0.1477 AU 57.5 LD 18.3 km/s
2059-07-20 04:36:00 Earth 0.3083 AU 120.0 LD 23.8 km/s
2060-06-04 13:51:00 Venus 0.1443 AU 56.1 LD 20 km/s
2060-07-03 12:52:00 Earth 0.1256 AU 48.9 LD 13.6 km/s
2062-12-25 17:51:00 Earth 0.2754 AU 107.2 LD 16.2 km/s
2063-11-16 18:10:00 Earth 0.3402 AU 132.4 LD 22.1 km/s
2072-07-15 12:20:00 Earth 0.2181 AU 84.9 LD 21.3 km/s
2073-07-03 05:04:00 Earth 0.2134 AU 83.0 LD 12.3 km/s
2110-07-25 04:00:00 Earth 0.398 AU 154.9 LD 26.4 km/s
2111-07-07 23:38:00 Earth 0.0438 AU 17.0 LD 15.4 km/s

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

Sources