2021 CU3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Sep 2026	29.7	4.262 AU	4.155 AU	05h13m	+04°50'	89.2°	13.7°

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)                : 0.7812176
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4068260
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.83354
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.41233
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 101.88470
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 138.67312
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 66.87859
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.43885
            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
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   05 13 20.3   +04 50 50     4.155    4.262   89.2   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-10 07:42 UT   05 13 24.5   +04 49 38     4.150    4.262   89.5   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   05 13 33.0   +04 47 05     4.140    4.262   90.1   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   05 13 44.9   +04 43 17     4.125    4.263   91.0   13.7   266   29.7 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   05 13 55.8   +04 39 27     4.111    4.264   91.9   13.6   266   29.7 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   05 14 05.9   +04 35 33     4.096    4.265   92.8   13.6   266   29.6 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   05 14 15.1   +04 31 38     4.082    4.265   93.6   13.6   266   29.6 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   05 14 23.3   +04 27 39     4.067    4.266   94.5   13.6   267   29.6 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   05 14 30.6   +04 23 38     4.053    4.267   95.4   13.6   267   29.6 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   05 14 37.0   +04 19 35     4.038    4.268   96.3   13.5   267   29.6 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   05 14 42.5   +04 15 29     4.024    4.268   97.2   13.5   268   29.6 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   05 14 47.0   +04 11 21     4.009    4.269   98.1   13.5   268   29.6 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   05 14 50.5   +04 07 11     3.995    4.270   99.1   13.4   268   29.6 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   05 14 53.1   +04 02 58     3.980    4.270  100.0   13.4   269   29.6 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   05 14 54.7   +03 58 43     3.966    4.271  100.9   13.3   269   29.6 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   05 14 55.3   +03 54 26     3.952    4.272  101.8   13.3   269   29.6 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   05 14 55.0   +03 50 08     3.938    4.272  102.7   13.2   270   29.6 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   05 14 53.6   +03 45 47     3.923    4.273  103.7   13.2   270   29.5 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   05 14 51.3   +03 41 24     3.909    4.273  104.6   13.1   270   29.5 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   05 14 48.0   +03 37 00     3.895    4.274  105.5   13.1   271   29.5 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   05 14 43.6   +03 32 34     3.881    4.275  106.5   13.0   271   29.5 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   05 14 38.2   +03 28 07     3.867    4.275  107.4   12.9   272   29.5 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   05 14 31.8   +03 23 37     3.853    4.276  108.4   12.8   272   29.5 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   05 14 24.4   +03 19 07     3.840    4.276  109.3   12.8   272   29.5 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   05 14 15.9   +03 14 35     3.826    4.277  110.2   12.7   273   29.5 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   05 14 06.4   +03 10 01     3.812    4.277  111.2   12.6   273   29.5 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   05 13 55.8   +03 05 27     3.799    4.278  112.2   12.5   274   29.4 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   05 13 44.1   +03 00 51     3.786    4.278  113.1   12.4   274   29.4 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   05 13 31.4   +02 56 15     3.772    4.279  114.1   12.3   274   29.4 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   05 13 17.6   +02 51 38     3.759    4.279  115.0   12.2   275   29.4 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   05 13 02.8   +02 46 60     3.746    4.280  116.0   12.1   275   29.4 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   05 12 46.9   +02 42 21     3.733    4.280  117.0   12.0   276   29.4 

    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.