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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2022 US21

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(2022 US21)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.195 AU
True anomaly
209.71°
Distance from Earth
1.399 AU
As of
21 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 2022 US21 — 1.195 AU from the Sun 2022 US21
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2022 US21 is 1.399 AU from Earth today (11.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 56m 21s
Declination
+27° 37′ 17″
Constellation
Leo Minor
Distance from Earth
1.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.02° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.933 AU
Eccentricity
0.3893
Inclination
22.87°
Orbital period
329 days
Perihelion
0.57 AU
Aphelion
1.296 AU
Longitude of ascending node
26.33°
Argument of periapsis
230.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.5 LD
0.0347 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.298

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
69
Data arc
385 days
First observed
28 October 2022
Last observed
17 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 August 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.86

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 173 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2022 US21 at 2031-10-20 00:07 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-20 00:07 UTC close approach of 2022 US21. Catalogue miss distance 56.9 LD · 2.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-17 to 2031-10-23, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 56.9 LD · 2.19 × 10⁷ km 2031-10-20 00:07 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-20 00:07 UTC close approach of 2022 US21. Catalogue miss distance 56.9 LD · 2.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-17 to 2031-10-23, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-10-20 00:07:00 Earth 0.1463 AU 56.9 LD 19.6 km/s
2032-08-03 12:23:00 Earth 0.4911 AU 191.1 LD 11.5 km/s
2032-11-05 16:56:00 Earth 0.3722 AU 144.9 LD 12.7 km/s
2033-05-19 15:09:00 Earth 0.4632 AU 180.3 LD 20.2 km/s
2034-03-15 19:12:00 Earth 0.2985 AU 116.2 LD 17.3 km/s
2036-12-10 13:41:00 Venus 0.0817 AU 31.8 LD 16.7 km/s
2040-10-20 22:22:00 Earth 0.199 AU 77.5 LD 21 km/s
2041-10-31 17:24:00 Earth 0.3376 AU 131.4 LD 12.7 km/s
2042-05-26 00:34:00 Earth 0.4779 AU 186.0 LD 20.2 km/s
2043-03-22 11:32:00 Earth 0.3055 AU 118.9 LD 17.3 km/s

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

Sources