2021 AE2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Aug 2026	26.6	1.867 AU	0.878 AU	21h19m	-16°26'	162.9°	9.2°

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
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   21 19 47.6   -16 26 41     0.878    1.867  162.9    9.2    70   26.6 
2026-08-28 00:34 UT   21 19 45.4   -16 26 52     0.878    1.867  162.8    9.2    70   26.6 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   21 18 13.5   -16 34 33     0.878    1.863  161.5    9.9    70   26.6 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   21 16 40.3   -16 42 17     0.878    1.859  160.1   10.6    70   26.6 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   21 15 08.3   -16 49 52     0.878    1.855  158.8   11.4    70   26.6 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   21 13 37.6   -16 57 17     0.878    1.851  157.4   12.1    71   26.7 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   21 12 08.2   -17 04 32     0.878    1.847  156.1   12.8    71   26.7 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   21 10 40.3   -17 11 36     0.879    1.843  154.8   13.5    71   26.7 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   21 09 14.1   -17 18 30     0.880    1.838  153.4   14.2    71   26.7 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   21 07 49.6   -17 25 13     0.881    1.834  152.1   14.9    71   26.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   21 06 27.0   -17 31 44     0.883    1.830  150.8   15.6    72   26.8 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   21 05 06.3   -17 38 03     0.884    1.826  149.5   16.3    72   26.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   21 03 47.8   -17 44 09     0.886    1.821  148.2   17.0    72   26.8 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   21 02 31.5   -17 50 03     0.888    1.817  146.9   17.6    72   26.8 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   21 01 17.5   -17 55 44     0.890    1.813  145.6   18.3    72   26.9 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   21 00 05.9   -18 01 12     0.892    1.808  144.4   18.9    72   26.9 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   20 58 56.8   -18 06 27     0.895    1.804  143.1   19.6    72   26.9 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   20 57 50.3   -18 11 28     0.897    1.800  141.8   20.2    73   26.9 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   20 56 46.4   -18 16 16     0.900    1.795  140.6   20.8    73   26.9 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   20 55 45.3   -18 20 50     0.903    1.791  139.4   21.5    73   27.0 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   20 54 46.9   -18 25 11     0.906    1.786  138.2   22.1    73   27.0 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   20 53 51.4   -18 29 18     0.910    1.782  137.0   22.7    73   27.0 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   20 52 58.7   -18 33 11     0.913    1.777  135.8   23.2    73   27.0 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   20 52 09.0   -18 36 50     0.917    1.773  134.6   23.8    73   27.0 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   20 51 22.2   -18 40 16     0.920    1.768  133.4   24.4    73   27.1 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   20 50 38.3   -18 43 29     0.924    1.764  132.3   24.9    73   27.1 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   20 49 57.5   -18 46 28     0.928    1.759  131.1   25.5    74   27.1 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   20 49 19.7   -18 49 13     0.932    1.754  130.0   26.0    74   27.1 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   20 48 45.0   -18 51 46     0.936    1.750  128.9   26.5    74   27.1 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   20 48 13.3   -18 54 05     0.941    1.745  127.7   27.0    74   27.2 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   20 47 44.6   -18 56 11     0.945    1.740  126.6   27.5    74   27.2 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   20 47 19.0   -18 58 04     0.949    1.736  125.6   28.0    74   27.2 

    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.