2021 AF8
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Jul 2026	24.7	1.988 AU	2.885 AU	06h55m	+27°52'	22.7°	11.4°

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 AF8 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5170238
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0154860
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.71036
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 42.45481
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 168.96245
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 215.35629
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 31.57159
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.85051
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.86            
        

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
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   06 55 59.5   +27 52 46     2.885    1.988   22.7   11.4   288   24.7 
2026-07-28 11:49 UT   06 57 11.6   +27 51 59     2.880    1.985   22.9   11.5   288   24.7 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   06 58 26.1   +27 51 07     2.875    1.982   23.1   11.6   288   24.7 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   07 00 53.2   +27 49 20     2.864    1.975   23.6   11.9   288   24.7 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   07 03 20.9   +27 47 24     2.853    1.969   24.0   12.1   288   24.7 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   07 05 49.0   +27 45 19     2.842    1.962   24.4   12.3   288   24.7 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   07 08 17.7   +27 43 06     2.831    1.956   24.8   12.6   288   24.7 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   07 10 46.9   +27 40 44     2.820    1.950   25.2   12.8   288   24.7 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   07 13 16.7   +27 38 13     2.809    1.943   25.6   13.0   288   24.7 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   07 15 47.0   +27 35 34     2.797    1.937   26.0   13.3   288   24.7 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   07 18 17.8   +27 32 45     2.786    1.930   26.3   13.5   288   24.7 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   07 20 49.1   +27 29 47     2.774    1.924   26.7   13.7   289   24.6 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   07 23 21.0   +27 26 40     2.763    1.917   27.1   14.0   289   24.6 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   07 25 53.5   +27 23 24     2.751    1.910   27.5   14.2   289   24.6 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   07 28 26.4   +27 19 59     2.740    1.904   27.9   14.4   289   24.6 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   07 30 59.9   +27 16 24     2.728    1.897   28.3   14.7   289   24.6 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   07 33 33.9   +27 12 39     2.716    1.891   28.7   14.9   289   24.6 

    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.