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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 SP5

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(2021 SP5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.695 AU
True anomaly
55.77°
Distance from Earth
1.62 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 SP5 — 0.695 AU from the Sun 2021 SP5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 SP5 is 1.62 AU from Earth today (13.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 29m 22s
Declination
-16° 44′ 19″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.9° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.838 AU
Eccentricity
0.2404
Inclination
6.42°
Orbital period
280 days
Perihelion
0.636 AU
Aphelion
1.039 AU
Longitude of ascending node
16.88°
Argument of periapsis
167.43°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.3 LD
0.0266 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.986

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
19
Data arc
10 days
First observed
30 September 2021
Last observed
10 October 2021
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.51

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 85 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 SP5 at 2028-04-13 19:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-13 19:45 UTC close approach of 2021 SP5. Catalogue miss distance 139.8 LD · 5.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-10 to 2028-04-16, 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 139.8 LD · 5.37 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-13 19:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-13 19:45 UTC close approach of 2021 SP5. Catalogue miss distance 139.8 LD · 5.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-10 to 2028-04-16, 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
2028-04-13 19:45:00 Earth 0.3592 AU 139.8 LD 12.1 km/s
2028-10-19 19:03:00 Earth 0.4986 AU 194.0 LD 21 km/s
2031-06-12 00:20:00 Earth 0.2886 AU 112.3 LD 6.8 km/s
2031-10-31 17:47:00 Earth 0.1151 AU 44.8 LD 8.7 km/s
2034-09-01 08:06:00 Earth 0.1186 AU 46.2 LD 8.1 km/s
2037-09-08 17:42:00 Earth 0.478 AU 186.0 LD 20.2 km/s
2038-03-16 08:00:00 Earth 0.3585 AU 139.5 LD 12.1 km/s
2041-05-05 17:48:00 Earth 0.3435 AU 133.7 LD 10.8 km/s
2041-10-26 10:36:00 Earth 0.3395 AU 132.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2047-09-02 04:04:00 Earth 0.2763 AU 107.5 LD 13.6 km/s

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

Sources