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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 VP8

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(2021 VP8)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.774 AU
True anomaly
278.36°
Distance from Earth
1.239 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 VP8 — 0.774 AU from the Sun 2021 VP8
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 VP8 is 1.239 AU from Earth today (10.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 20m 23s
Declination
+05° 25′ 01″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
38.38° — 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
0.858 AU
Eccentricity
0.2529
Inclination
2.2°
Orbital period
290.2 days
Perihelion
0.641 AU
Aphelion
1.075 AU
Longitude of ascending node
64.42°
Argument of periapsis
131.49°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.6 LD
0.0041 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.851

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
40
Data arc
15 days
First observed
11 November 2021
Last observed
26 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.29

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 70 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 VP8 at 2029-05-06 00:45 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-06 00:45 UTC close approach of 2021 VP8. Catalogue miss distance 136.4 LD · 5.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-03 to 2029-05-09, 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. Sun 136.4 LD · 5.24 × 10⁷ km 2029-05-06 00:45 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-05-06 00:45 UTC close approach of 2021 VP8. Catalogue miss distance 136.4 LD · 5.24 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-05-03 to 2029-05-09, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-09-24 06:59:00 Venus 0.08 AU 31.1 LD 6.4 km/s
2029-05-06 00:45:00 Earth 0.3504 AU 136.4 LD 11.1 km/s
2029-11-17 01:08:00 Earth 0.2815 AU 109.6 LD 15.2 km/s
2032-09-12 01:28:00 Earth 0.4704 AU 183.1 LD 21 km/s
2033-04-13 18:16:00 Earth 0.3612 AU 140.6 LD 11.9 km/s
2033-05-14 12:23:00 Venus 0.0502 AU 19.5 LD 10.2 km/s
2033-11-10 11:30:00 Earth 0.4484 AU 174.5 LD 20.5 km/s
2036-09-06 07:45:00 Earth 0.3251 AU 126.5 LD 16.4 km/s
2037-03-25 22:12:00 Earth 0.3553 AU 138.3 LD 11.7 km/s
2040-09-01 09:34:00 Earth 0.1836 AU 71.5 LD 11.9 km/s

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

Sources