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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 XC6

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(2021 XC6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.167 AU
True anomaly
185.23°
Distance from Earth
0.279 AU
As of
20 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 XC6 — 1.167 AU from the Sun 2021 XC6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 XC6 is 0.279 AU from Earth today (2.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 50m 19s
Declination
+55° 16′ 44″
Constellation
Camelopardalis
Distance from Earth
0.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
122.44° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.888 AU
Eccentricity
0.3169
Inclination
9.94°
Orbital period
305.8 days
Perihelion
0.607 AU
Aphelion
1.17 AU
Longitude of ascending node
263.87°
Argument of periapsis
306.92°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.4 LD
0.0011 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.63

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
39
Data arc
3 days
First observed
12 December 2021
Last observed
15 December 2021
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 79 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 XC6 at 2026-12-07 19:42 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-07 19:42 UTC close approach of 2021 XC6. Catalogue miss distance 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-04 to 2026-12-10, 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 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-07 19:42 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-07 19:42 UTC close approach of 2021 XC6. Catalogue miss distance 48.7 LD · 1.87 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-04 to 2026-12-10, 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
2026-12-07 19:42:00 Earth 0.1252 AU 48.7 LD 7.8 km/s
2031-06-22 05:24:00 Earth 0.3301 AU 128.5 LD 11.3 km/s
2031-11-12 05:46:00 Earth 0.2097 AU 81.6 LD 7.9 km/s
2032-02-06 05:15:00 Earth 0.3066 AU 119.3 LD 6.6 km/s
2033-12-11 15:27:00 Venus 0.1147 AU 44.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2036-07-14 21:49:00 Earth 0.2733 AU 106.3 LD 8.7 km/s
2036-10-15 15:27:00 Earth 0.234 AU 91.1 LD 7.6 km/s
2037-03-06 12:32:00 Earth 0.369 AU 143.6 LD 10.8 km/s
2041-08-22 12:06:00 Earth 0.1953 AU 76.0 LD 6.7 km/s
2042-03-26 13:09:00 Earth 0.3997 AU 155.5 LD 13.2 km/s

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

Sources