2021 AB
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Aug 2026	30.7	3.976 AU	2.965 AU	21h00m	-16°15'	174.9°	1.3°

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 2021 AB are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6491595
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5127228
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.42596
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 293.09342
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 213.44249
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 72.21921
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 326.52775
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.78579
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.98            
        

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
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   21 00 56.0   -16 15 34     2.965    3.976  174.9    1.3    81   30.7 
2026-08-11 02:00 UT   21 00 51.5   -16 15 53     2.965    3.976  174.8    1.3    81   30.7 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   21 00 02.1   -16 19 15     2.969    3.978  173.8    1.6    80   30.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   20 59 08.4   -16 22 55     2.973    3.980  172.6    1.9    79   30.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   20 58 15.0   -16 26 33     2.977    3.982  171.4    2.2    78   30.8 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   20 57 21.9   -16 30 08     2.982    3.983  170.2    2.5    78   30.8 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   20 56 29.2   -16 33 41     2.986    3.985  169.0    2.8    78   30.9 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   20 55 36.8   -16 37 12     2.992    3.987  167.9    3.1    77   30.9 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   20 54 45.0   -16 40 41     2.997    3.989  166.7    3.3    77   30.9 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   20 53 53.6   -16 44 07     3.003    3.991  165.5    3.6    77   30.9 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   20 53 02.7   -16 47 30     3.009    3.993  164.3    3.9    77   31.0 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   20 52 12.3   -16 50 50     3.016    3.995  163.2    4.2    77   31.0 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   20 51 22.6   -16 54 07     3.022    3.997  162.0    4.5    76   31.0 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   20 50 33.4   -16 57 21     3.029    3.998  160.8    4.8    76   31.0 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   20 49 44.9   -17 00 32     3.037    4.000  159.7    5.0    76   31.0 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   20 48 57.0   -17 03 40     3.044    4.002  158.5    5.3    76   31.1 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   20 48 09.9   -17 06 44     3.052    4.004  157.4    5.6    76   31.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   20 47 23.5   -17 09 45     3.060    4.006  156.2    5.8    76   31.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   20 46 37.8   -17 12 43     3.069    4.007  155.0    6.1    76   31.1 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   20 45 52.9   -17 15 37     3.077    4.009  153.9    6.4    76   31.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   20 45 08.8   -17 18 27     3.086    4.011  152.8    6.6    76   31.2 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   20 44 25.5   -17 21 14     3.096    4.013  151.6    6.9    76   31.2 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   20 43 43.0   -17 23 57     3.105    4.014  150.5    7.1    76   31.2 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   20 43 01.5   -17 26 37     3.115    4.016  149.3    7.4    76   31.2 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   20 42 20.8   -17 29 12     3.125    4.018  148.2    7.6    76   31.2 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   20 41 41.0   -17 31 44     3.135    4.020  147.1    7.8    76   31.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   20 41 02.2   -17 34 11     3.146    4.021  145.9    8.1    76   31.3 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   20 40 24.3   -17 36 35     3.157    4.023  144.8    8.3    76   31.3 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   20 39 47.4   -17 38 55     3.168    4.025  143.7    8.5    76   31.3 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   20 39 11.5   -17 41 11     3.179    4.026  142.6    8.7    76   31.3 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   20 38 36.5   -17 43 23     3.191    4.028  141.5    9.0    76   31.3 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   20 38 02.7   -17 45 30     3.202    4.029  140.3    9.2    76   31.4 

    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.