2021 AE2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Jan 2026	29.5	2.198 AU	3.153 AU	18h03m	-22°57'	11.4°	5.1°

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 AE2 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3788325
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6202837
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.06688
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 125.36567
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 333.72763
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 132.32851
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 99.09724
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.47222
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.06            
        

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
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   18 03 35.8   -22 57 41     3.153    2.198   11.4    5.1   272   29.5 
2026-01-03 15:32 UT   18 04 56.1   -22 57 37     3.152    2.199   11.8    5.2   272   29.5 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   18 05 39.9   -22 57 34     3.152    2.199   12.0    5.3   272   29.5 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   18 07 43.7   -22 57 21     3.150    2.200   12.5    5.6   271   29.5 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   18 09 47.5   -22 57 02     3.148    2.202   13.1    5.8   271   29.5 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   18 11 51.1   -22 56 37     3.146    2.203   13.6    6.0   271   29.5 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   18 13 54.5   -22 56 06     3.144    2.204   14.1    6.3   270   29.6 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   18 15 57.7   -22 55 28     3.142    2.205   14.7    6.5   270   29.6 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   18 18 00.8   -22 54 45     3.140    2.206   15.2    6.7   270   29.6 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   18 20 03.6   -22 53 56     3.137    2.207   15.8    7.0   270   29.6 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   18 22 06.3   -22 53 01     3.135    2.208   16.3    7.2   269   29.6 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   18 24 08.8   -22 51 60     3.132    2.210   16.9    7.4   269   29.6 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   18 26 11.2   -22 50 53     3.129    2.211   17.4    7.7   269   29.6 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   18 28 13.3   -22 49 40     3.126    2.212   18.0    7.9   269   29.6 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   18 30 15.2   -22 48 21     3.123    2.213   18.5    8.1   268   29.6 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   18 32 16.9   -22 46 56     3.120    2.214   19.1    8.4   268   29.6 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   18 34 18.4   -22 45 26     3.116    2.215   19.6    8.6   268   29.7 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   18 36 19.6   -22 43 50     3.113    2.215   20.2    8.8   268   29.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   18 38 20.7   -22 42 09     3.109    2.216   20.7    9.0   267   29.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   18 40 21.5   -22 40 21     3.105    2.217   21.3    9.3   267   29.7 

    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.