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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 VL12

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(2021 VL12)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.986 AU
True anomaly
199.56°
Distance from Earth
1.037 AU
As of
16 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 VL12 — 0.986 AU from the Sun 2021 VL12
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 VL12 is 1.037 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 54m 40s
Declination
+14° 30′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.95° — 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
0.778 AU
Eccentricity
0.2986
Inclination
4.25°
Orbital period
250.6 days
Perihelion
0.546 AU
Aphelion
1.01 AU
Longitude of ascending node
291.53°
Argument of periapsis
315.29°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 10.7 LD
0.0274 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.425

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
83
Data arc
12.96 years
First observed
31 December 2010
Last observed
16 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.62

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 313 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 VL12 at 2028-06-18 21:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-18 21:15 UTC close approach of 2021 VL12. Catalogue miss distance 179.8 LD · 6.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-15 to 2028-06-21, 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 179.8 LD · 6.91 × 10⁷ km 2028-06-18 21:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-06-18 21:15 UTC close approach of 2021 VL12. Catalogue miss distance 179.8 LD · 6.91 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-06-15 to 2028-06-21, 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
2027-08-19 16:55:00 Venus 0.0858 AU 33.4 LD 9.1 km/s
2028-06-18 21:15:00 Earth 0.462 AU 179.8 LD 16.1 km/s
2028-07-03 19:48:00 Venus 0.134 AU 52.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2030-07-29 02:08:00 Earth 0.4012 AU 156.1 LD 11.7 km/s
2030-12-22 14:09:00 Earth 0.3214 AU 125.1 LD 17.1 km/s
2032-12-21 05:18:00 Earth 0.029 AU 11.3 LD 6.2 km/s
2034-09-21 09:15:00 Venus 0.089 AU 34.6 LD 12.4 km/s
2034-11-04 19:11:00 Earth 0.2003 AU 78.0 LD 12.4 km/s
2035-03-16 02:24:00 Earth 0.3556 AU 138.4 LD 8.7 km/s
2037-04-29 09:28:00 Earth 0.4489 AU 174.7 LD 15.1 km/s

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

Sources