2021 QF5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Dec 2025	29.1	2.751 AU	2.757 AU	12h48m	-06°31'	79.4°	20.6°

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 QF5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5459897
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2474119
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.21881
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 256.67743
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 135.04830
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 75.78266
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 211.73221
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.86107
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.37            
        

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
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   12 48 31.7   -06 31 01     2.757    2.751   79.4   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-25 14:46 UT   12 48 56.5   -06 33 51     2.751    2.754   79.9   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   12 49 11.7   -06 35 36     2.747    2.756   80.2   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   12 49 50.7   -06 40 05     2.737    2.761   81.1   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   12 50 28.6   -06 44 27     2.727    2.765   81.9   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   12 51 05.4   -06 48 43     2.716    2.770   82.8   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   12 51 41.2   -06 52 51     2.706    2.775   83.6   20.6   293   29.1 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   12 52 15.8   -06 56 53     2.696    2.779   84.5   20.6   293   29.1 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   12 52 49.4   -07 00 48     2.685    2.784   85.3   20.6   293   29.1 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   12 53 21.8   -07 04 37     2.675    2.788   86.2   20.6   293   29.1 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   12 53 53.2   -07 08 18     2.664    2.793   87.1   20.6   293   29.1 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   12 54 23.3   -07 11 52     2.654    2.797   88.0   20.6   293   29.1 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   12 54 52.3   -07 15 19     2.643    2.802   88.8   20.5   293   29.1 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   12 55 20.2   -07 18 39     2.633    2.806   89.7   20.5   293   29.1 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   12 55 46.8   -07 21 51     2.622    2.811   90.6   20.5   293   29.1 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   12 56 12.3   -07 24 56     2.611    2.815   91.5   20.4   293   29.1 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   12 56 36.5   -07 27 53     2.601    2.820   92.4   20.4   293   29.1 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   12 56 59.5   -07 30 43     2.590    2.824   93.4   20.3   293   29.1 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   12 57 21.2   -07 33 25     2.579    2.828   94.3   20.3   293   29.0 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   12 57 41.7   -07 35 59     2.569    2.833   95.2   20.2   293   29.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   12 58 00.9   -07 38 26     2.558    2.837   96.1   20.2   293   29.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   12 58 18.7   -07 40 44     2.547    2.841   97.1   20.1   293   29.0 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   12 58 35.3   -07 42 54     2.537    2.846   98.0   20.0   293   29.0 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   12 58 50.5   -07 44 56     2.526    2.850   99.0   19.9   293   29.0 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   12 59 04.4   -07 46 50     2.515    2.854   99.9   19.8   293   29.0 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   12 59 16.9   -07 48 36     2.505    2.859  100.9   19.8   293   29.0 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   12 59 28.0   -07 50 13     2.494    2.863  101.8   19.7   293   29.0 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   12 59 37.8   -07 51 41     2.484    2.867  102.8   19.6   293   29.0 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   12 59 46.1   -07 53 01     2.473    2.871  103.8   19.4   293   29.0 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   12 59 53.0   -07 54 12     2.463    2.876  104.8   19.3   293   28.9 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   12 59 58.5   -07 55 15     2.452    2.880  105.8   19.2   293   28.9 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   13 00 02.6   -07 56 09     2.442    2.884  106.8   19.1   293   28.9 

    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.