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Centaur

2021 VA28

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(2021 VA28)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.423 AU
True anomaly
139.42°
Distance from Earth
7.407 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 VA28 — 6.423 AU from the Sun 2021 VA28
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 VA28 is 7.407 AU from Earth today (1.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 08m 18s
Declination
+01° 51′ 29″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
7.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.33° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
5.754 AU
Eccentricity
0.1722
Inclination
32.44°
Orbital period
13.8 years
Perihelion
4.763 AU
Aphelion
6.745 AU
Longitude of ascending node
178.75°
Argument of periapsis
238.9°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 1,510.9 LD
3.8823 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.653

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
23
Data arc
438 days
First observed
13 September 2020
Last observed
25 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.88

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-05-07 02:49:00 Juptr 0.9608 AU 373.9 LD 8.8 km/s
2046-09-13 16:43:00 Juptr 1.7445 AU 678.9 LD 8.3 km/s
2052-02-08 16:14:00 Juptr 0.6039 AU 235.0 LD 7.4 km/s
2129-03-19 14:07:00 Juptr 1.5471 AU 602.1 LD 9.2 km/s
2135-01-08 17:57:00 Juptr 1.8656 AU 726.1 LD 7.4 km/s
2147-01-23 15:34:00 Juptr 1.4459 AU 562.7 LD 8.3 km/s

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

Sources