2021 CU3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jul 2026	29.8	4.195 AU	4.862 AU	04h42m	+06°51'	44.3°	9.7°

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 CU3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7812542
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4070240
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.83363
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.41646
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 101.88643
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 85.85319
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 66.88453
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.43883
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.73            
        

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
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   04 42 32.0   +06 51 25     4.862    4.195   44.3    9.7   246   29.8 
2026-07-15 03:00 UT   04 42 37.9   +06 51 22     4.861    4.196   44.4    9.8   246   29.8 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   04 43 18.6   +06 51 01     4.853    4.197   45.0    9.9   246   29.8 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   04 44 04.8   +06 50 33     4.844    4.198   45.7   10.0   247   29.8 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   04 44 50.6   +06 50 01     4.835    4.200   46.5   10.1   247   29.8 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   04 45 36.1   +06 49 25     4.825    4.201   47.2   10.2   248   29.8 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   04 46 21.1   +06 48 45     4.816    4.203   47.9   10.3   248   29.8 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   04 47 05.8   +06 48 02     4.806    4.204   48.6   10.4   248   29.8 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   04 47 50.1   +06 47 15     4.796    4.206   49.4   10.6   249   29.8 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   04 48 34.0   +06 46 24     4.786    4.207   50.1   10.7   249   29.8 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   04 49 17.5   +06 45 29     4.776    4.209   50.8   10.8   250   29.8 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   04 50 00.6   +06 44 31     4.766    4.210   51.6   10.9   250   29.8 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   04 50 43.3   +06 43 29     4.755    4.211   52.3   11.0   250   29.8 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   04 51 25.5   +06 42 23     4.745    4.213   53.0   11.1   251   29.8 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   04 52 07.3   +06 41 13     4.734    4.214   53.8   11.2   251   29.8 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   04 52 48.6   +06 40 00     4.723    4.216   54.5   11.3   252   29.8 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   04 53 29.5   +06 38 43     4.712    4.217   55.3   11.4   252   29.8 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   04 54 10.0   +06 37 22     4.701    4.218   56.0   11.5   252   29.8 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   04 54 50.0   +06 35 58     4.689    4.220   56.8   11.6   253   29.8 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   04 55 29.5   +06 34 29     4.678    4.221   57.5   11.7   253   29.8 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   04 56 08.5   +06 32 58     4.666    4.222   58.3   11.8   253   29.8 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   04 56 47.0   +06 31 22     4.655    4.223   59.0   11.9   254   29.8 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   04 57 25.1   +06 29 42     4.643    4.225   59.8   12.0   254   29.8 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   04 58 02.6   +06 27 59     4.631    4.226   60.6   12.1   254   29.8 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   04 58 39.6   +06 26 13     4.619    4.227   61.3   12.2   255   29.8 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   04 59 16.1   +06 24 22     4.607    4.228   62.1   12.2   255   29.8 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   04 59 52.0   +06 22 28     4.594    4.230   62.9   12.3   255   29.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   05 00 27.4   +06 20 30     4.582    4.231   63.7   12.4   256   29.8 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   05 01 02.2   +06 18 28     4.569    4.232   64.4   12.5   256   29.8 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   05 01 36.5   +06 16 23     4.557    4.233   65.2   12.6   256   29.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   05 02 10.2   +06 14 14     4.544    4.234   66.0   12.6   257   29.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   05 02 43.2   +06 12 01     4.531    4.236   66.8   12.7   257   29.8 

    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.