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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 SA2

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(2021 SA2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.878 AU
True anomaly
258.29°
Distance from Earth
1.502 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 SA2 — 0.878 AU from the Sun 2021 SA2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 SA2 is 1.502 AU from Earth today (12.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 57m 30s
Declination
+08° 23′ 45″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.08° — 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
0.937 AU
Eccentricity
0.3627
Inclination
17.66°
Orbital period
331.3 days
Perihelion
0.597 AU
Aphelion
1.277 AU
Longitude of ascending node
1.95°
Argument of periapsis
234.63°
Epoch · J2000
2459486.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.4 LD
0.0164 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.307

Orbit quality

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

Observations used
15
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
28 September 2021
Last observed
29 September 2021
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 September 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.21

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 SA2 at 2030-10-05 15:55 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-10-05 15:55 UTC close approach of 2021 SA2. Catalogue miss distance 150.5 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-10-02 to 2030-10-08, 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 150.5 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km 2030-10-05 15:55 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-10-05 15:55 UTC close approach of 2021 SA2. Catalogue miss distance 150.5 LD · 5.78 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-10-02 to 2030-10-08, 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
2030-10-05 15:55:00 Earth 0.3867 AU 150.5 LD 24.7 km/s
2031-09-24 21:29:00 Earth 0.1585 AU 61.7 LD 11 km/s
2050-09-24 19:58:00 Earth 0.0821 AU 32.0 LD 16 km/s
2059-10-09 19:11:00 Earth 0.4764 AU 185.4 LD 27.4 km/s
2060-09-22 02:17:00 Earth 0.0738 AU 28.7 LD 12.4 km/s
2061-06-10 07:05:00 Earth 0.4689 AU 182.5 LD 15.3 km/s
2061-11-18 16:50:00 Earth 0.4119 AU 160.3 LD 10.2 km/s
2062-04-04 02:17:00 Earth 0.3634 AU 141.4 LD 15.8 km/s
2063-01-28 07:10:00 Earth 0.2716 AU 105.7 LD 17.3 km/s
2066-01-26 09:26:00 Venus 0.1411 AU 54.9 LD 13 km/s

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

Sources