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Centaur

2021 YP

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(2021 YP)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.094 AU
True anomaly
159.36°
Distance from Earth
10.032 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 YP — 9.094 AU from the Sun 2021 YP
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2021 YP is 10.032 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 08m 38s
Declination
-19° 29′ 22″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
10.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.46° — too close to the Sun to observe

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
6.15 AU
Eccentricity
0.6877
Inclination
170.19°
Orbital period
15.25 years
Perihelion
1.921 AU
Aphelion
10.379 AU
Longitude of ascending node
175.34°
Argument of periapsis
157.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 360.2 LD
0.9257 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.709

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
52
Data arc
325 days
First observed
1 November 2021
Last observed
22 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.57

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 24 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-07-15 20:18:00 Satrn 1.4948 AU 581.7 LD 15.3 km/s
2050-12-06 14:34:00 Jupiter 0.413 AU 160.7 LD 24.7 km/s
2050-12-06 14:34:00 Juptr 0.413 AU 160.7 LD 24.7 km/s
2054-08-07 05:16:00 Juptr 1.009 AU 392.7 LD 23.7 km/s
2072-04-27 22:16:00 Satrn 1.5044 AU 585.5 LD 15.6 km/s
2097-02-28 19:18:00 Juptr 1.8637 AU 725.3 LD 31 km/s
2102-03-16 10:51:00 Satrn 1.8026 AU 701.5 LD 16.1 km/s
2110-10-19 04:57:00 Juptr 1.1845 AU 461.0 LD 22.1 km/s
2114-07-14 01:57:00 Juptr 1.0471 AU 407.5 LD 26.7 km/s
2155-10-23 21:08:00 Satrn 1.9943 AU 776.1 LD 18.6 km/s

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

Sources