2021 RZ5 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1 AU to 1.07 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 383 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 10 March 2022.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.042 AU
- True anomaly
- 253.03°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.371 AU
- As of
- 3 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 18h 05m 02s
- Declination
- -18° 17′ 04″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 1.37 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 49.12° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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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
- 1.032 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0356
- Inclination
- 13.25°
- Orbital period
- 383 days
- Perihelion
- 0.995 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.069 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 167.88°
- Argument of periapsis
- 255.03°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 5.4 LD
- 0.014 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.908
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).
- Observations used
- 38
- Data arc
- 182 days
- First observed
- 9 September 2021
- Last observed
- 10 March 2022
- Residual RMS
- 0.51 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 10 March 2022
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 25.69
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 83 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-09-06 10:13 UTC close approach of 2021 RZ5. Catalogue miss distance 83.6 LD · 3.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-09-03 to 2042-09-09, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2042-09-06 10:13:00 | Earth | 0.2147 AU | 83.6 LD | 9.7 km/s |
| 2043-03-16 21:30:00 | Earth | 0.1497 AU | 58.3 LD | 7.5 km/s |
| 2043-09-12 14:49:00 | Earth | 0.082 AU | 31.9 LD | 7.1 km/s |
| 2044-03-01 04:26:00 | Earth | 0.1463 AU | 56.9 LD | 8.1 km/s |
| 2044-09-09 21:05:00 | Earth | 0.3794 AU | 147.7 LD | 12.2 km/s |
| 2045-02-22 14:12:00 | Earth | 0.4338 AU | 168.8 LD | 14.5 km/s |
| 2063-09-03 11:32:00 | Earth | 0.315 AU | 122.6 LD | 11.9 km/s |
| 2064-03-25 03:06:00 | Earth | 0.2363 AU | 92.0 LD | 8.6 km/s |
| 2064-09-10 12:05:00 | Earth | 0.019 AU | 7.4 LD | 6.9 km/s |
| 2065-03-05 22:04:00 | Earth | 0.0574 AU | 22.3 LD | 7.1 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB