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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 VH1

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(2021 VH1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.86 AU
True anomaly
221.16°
Distance from Earth
0.832 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 VH1 — 0.86 AU from the Sun 2021 VH1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 VH1 is 0.832 AU from Earth today (6.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 49m 27s
Declination
+00° 38′ 49″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
0.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
54.83° — 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
0.715 AU
Eccentricity
0.401
Inclination
20.63°
Orbital period
220.9 days
Perihelion
0.428 AU
Aphelion
1.002 AU
Longitude of ascending node
222.49°
Argument of periapsis
352.19°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
0.0034 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.912

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
37
Data arc
2 days
First observed
3 November 2021
Last observed
5 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.42

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 88 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 VH1 at 2027-10-23 16:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-23 16:49 UTC close approach of 2021 VH1. Catalogue miss distance 77.5 LD · 2.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-20 to 2027-10-26, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 77.5 LD · 2.98 × 10⁷ km 2027-10-23 16:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-23 16:49 UTC close approach of 2021 VH1. Catalogue miss distance 77.5 LD · 2.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-20 to 2027-10-26, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. 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
2027-10-23 16:49:00 Earth 0.1992 AU 77.5 LD 14.2 km/s
2030-10-22 03:34:00 Earth 0.3146 AU 122.4 LD 17.8 km/s
2033-10-23 23:13:00 Earth 0.4395 AU 171.0 LD 22.1 km/s
2035-11-05 05:48:00 Earth 0.4605 AU 179.2 LD 24 km/s
2038-11-09 00:44:00 Earth 0.3259 AU 126.8 LD 19.6 km/s
2041-07-28 14:04:00 Earth 0.4992 AU 194.3 LD 9.8 km/s
2041-11-10 20:17:00 Earth 0.1958 AU 76.2 LD 15.6 km/s
2044-11-08 23:32:00 Earth 0.0769 AU 29.9 LD 12.8 km/s
2047-11-03 22:01:00 Earth 0.0259 AU 10.1 LD 11.7 km/s
2048-02-16 22:34:00 Merc 0.078 AU 30.3 LD 28.8 km/s

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

Sources