2021 WD3 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.88 AU to 1.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 359.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 5 December 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.048 AU
- True anomaly
- 128.68°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.466 AU
- As of
- 2 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
- 09h 17m 00s
- Declination
- +14° 09′ 23″
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Distance from Earth
- 0.47 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 83.82° — well clear of the Sun
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.
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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
- 0.989 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1067
- Inclination
- 8.89°
- Orbital period
- 359.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.884 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.095 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 242.8°
- Argument of periapsis
- 55.12°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 17.1 LD
- 0.0439 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.115
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 28
- Data arc
- 8 days
- First observed
- 27 November 2021
- Last observed
- 5 December 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.39 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 December 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 25.55
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 37 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-04-21 18:45 UTC close approach of 2021 WD3. Catalogue miss distance 45.3 LD · 1.74 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-04-18 to 2027-04-24, 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 south of the ecliptic. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-04-21 18:45:00 | Earth | 0.1165 AU | 45.3 LD | 7.4 km/s |
| 2028-04-11 04:57:00 | Earth | 0.2014 AU | 78.4 LD | 9.9 km/s |
| 2029-04-04 05:47:00 | Earth | 0.2991 AU | 116.4 LD | 12.8 km/s |
| 2030-03-29 13:01:00 | Earth | 0.4006 AU | 155.9 LD | 15.8 km/s |
| 2074-11-19 21:53:00 | Earth | 0.4594 AU | 178.8 LD | 18 km/s |
| 2075-11-16 21:04:00 | Earth | 0.355 AU | 138.1 LD | 14.9 km/s |
| 2076-11-13 07:31:00 | Earth | 0.2513 AU | 97.8 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2077-11-11 20:28:00 | Earth | 0.1506 AU | 58.6 LD | 8.9 km/s |
| 2078-11-13 06:40:00 | Earth | 0.0628 AU | 24.4 LD | 6.6 km/s |
| 2085-04-16 17:14:00 | Earth | 0.1488 AU | 57.9 LD | 8.4 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