2001 CA21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2026	22.4	1.694 AU	1.800 AU	00h35m	+02°56'	67.8°	32.6°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of 2001 CA21 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.8289717
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.1131443
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.25828
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 51.79975
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 212.75474
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 343.17872
            Epoch                           : 2001 Jan 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 84.44464
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.84213
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.07            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   00 35 50.0   +02 56 24     1.800    1.694   67.8   32.6    67   22.4 
2026-01-22 23:23 UT   00 38 02.8   +03 12 19     1.821    1.705   67.4   32.2    67   22.4 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   00 38 06.2   +03 12 44     1.821    1.705   67.4   32.2    67   22.4 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   00 40 20.9   +03 28 50     1.843    1.717   67.0   31.9    67   22.5 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   00 42 34.1   +03 44 41     1.865    1.729   66.6   31.5    67   22.5 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   00 44 45.8   +04 00 19     1.887    1.741   66.2   31.2    67   22.5 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   00 46 56.1   +04 15 44     1.909    1.752   65.8   30.8    67   22.5 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   00 49 05.0   +04 30 56     1.930    1.764   65.3   30.5    67   22.6 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   00 51 12.7   +04 45 55     1.952    1.775   64.9   30.2    67   22.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   00 53 19.0   +05 00 42     1.974    1.787   64.5   29.8    68   22.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   00 55 24.2   +05 15 17     1.996    1.798   64.0   29.5    68   22.7 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   00 57 28.1   +05 29 40     2.018    1.809   63.6   29.2    68   22.7 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   00 59 31.0   +05 43 52     2.039    1.821   63.1   28.9    68   22.7 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   01 01 32.8   +05 57 54     2.061    1.832   62.7   28.6    68   22.7 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   01 03 33.5   +06 11 44     2.083    1.843   62.2   28.2    68   22.8 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   01 05 33.2   +06 25 24     2.105    1.854   61.7   27.9    68   22.8 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.