2021 VF is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.72 AU to 1.3 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 369.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 5 November 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.104 AU
- True anomaly
- 235.54°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.37 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
- 21h 28m 38s
- Declination
- -16° 50′ 17″
- Constellation
- Capricornus
- Distance from Earth
- 0.37 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 97.64° — 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.
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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
- 1.008 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2855
- Inclination
- 2.63°
- Orbital period
- 369.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.72 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.296 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 35.71°
- Argument of periapsis
- 110.7°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 2.2 LD
- 0.0057 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.004
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 31
- Data arc
- 3 days
- First observed
- 1 November 2021
- Last observed
- 4 November 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.29 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 November 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 27.85
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 82 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-23 10:12 UTC close approach of 2021 VF. Catalogue miss distance 99.2 LD · 3.81 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-20 to 2027-01-26, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-23 10:12:00 | Earth | 0.2548 AU | 99.2 LD | 8.9 km/s |
| 2027-09-06 01:33:00 | Earth | 0.2774 AU | 108.0 LD | 7.2 km/s |
| 2028-02-05 16:33:00 | Earth | 0.2661 AU | 103.5 LD | 9.5 km/s |
| 2028-08-26 14:44:00 | Earth | 0.2866 AU | 111.5 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2029-02-17 10:16:00 | Earth | 0.2701 AU | 105.1 LD | 9.7 km/s |
| 2029-08-17 07:42:00 | Earth | 0.288 AU | 112.1 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2030-03-02 02:24:00 | Earth | 0.2671 AU | 104.0 LD | 9.5 km/s |
| 2030-08-07 19:20:00 | Earth | 0.2819 AU | 109.7 LD | 7.2 km/s |
| 2031-03-15 07:10:00 | Earth | 0.257 AU | 100.0 LD | 9 km/s |
| 2031-07-28 17:50:00 | Earth | 0.2675 AU | 104.1 LD | 6.9 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