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Asteroid Near-Earth

2021 FD50

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(2021 FD50)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.91 AU
True anomaly
90.47°
Distance from Earth
1.624 AU
As of
23 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2021 FD50 — 0.91 AU from the Sun 2021 FD50
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 FD50 is 1.624 AU from Earth today (13.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 09m 06s
Declination
+01° 42′ 31″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.97° — 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
0.964 AU
Eccentricity
0.2407
Inclination
9.01°
Orbital period
345.7 days
Perihelion
0.732 AU
Aphelion
1.196 AU
Longitude of ascending node
357.55°
Argument of periapsis
59.07°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 9.0 LD
0.0231 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.223

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
10
Data arc
2 days
First observed
18 March 2021
Last observed
20 March 2021
Residual RMS
0.68 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.89

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 39 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2021 FD50 at 2038-03-17 00:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-03-17 00:56 UTC close approach of 2021 FD50. Catalogue miss distance 86.7 LD · 3.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-03-14 to 2038-03-20, 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 86.7 LD · 3.33 × 10⁷ km 2038-03-17 00:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-03-17 00:56 UTC close approach of 2021 FD50. Catalogue miss distance 86.7 LD · 3.33 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-03-14 to 2038-03-20, 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
2038-03-17 00:56:00 Earth 0.2229 AU 86.7 LD 14.2 km/s
2041-07-31 22:54:00 Earth 0.1365 AU 53.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2042-07-12 14:43:00 Earth 0.4042 AU 157.3 LD 18.6 km/s
2048-06-19 23:02:00 Venus 0.1472 AU 57.3 LD 10.3 km/s
2055-03-24 13:26:00 Earth 0.4015 AU 156.3 LD 19.5 km/s
2056-03-11 20:21:00 Earth 0.075 AU 29.2 LD 9.9 km/s
2057-11-01 09:43:00 Earth 0.2698 AU 105.0 LD 9.2 km/s
2059-07-23 04:37:00 Earth 0.2338 AU 91.0 LD 13.2 km/s
2060-10-08 15:52:00 Venus 0.1421 AU 55.3 LD 9.9 km/s
2073-03-21 13:37:00 Earth 0.3402 AU 132.4 LD 17.6 km/s

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

Sources