2021 QF5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Feb 2026	28.5	3.017 AU	2.156 AU	12h47m	-06°53'	144.3°	11.0°

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
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   12 47 42.3   -06 53 56     2.156    3.017  144.3   11.0   295   28.5 
2026-02-27 15:54 UT   12 47 11.7   -06 50 57     2.153    3.019  145.1   10.8   295   28.5 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   12 46 56.0   -06 49 24     2.151    3.020  145.6   10.7   295   28.5 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   12 46 08.5   -06 44 43     2.146    3.024  146.8   10.3   295   28.4 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   12 45 19.9   -06 39 54     2.141    3.028  148.0   10.0   296   28.4 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   12 44 30.2   -06 34 57     2.137    3.031  149.2    9.6   296   28.4 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   12 43 39.5   -06 29 53     2.133    3.035  150.4    9.3   296   28.4 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   12 42 47.8   -06 24 41     2.129    3.038  151.7    8.9   296   28.4 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   12 41 55.1   -06 19 21     2.125    3.042  152.9    8.5   296   28.4 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   12 41 01.4   -06 13 55     2.121    3.045  154.1    8.2   297   28.3 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   12 40 06.9   -06 08 21     2.118    3.049  155.4    7.8   297   28.3 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   12 39 11.5   -06 02 41     2.115    3.052  156.6    7.4   297   28.3 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   12 38 15.4   -05 56 55     2.113    3.056  157.9    7.0   297   28.3 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   12 37 18.4   -05 51 02     2.111    3.059  159.1    6.6   298   28.3 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   12 36 20.8   -05 45 04     2.109    3.063  160.4    6.3   298   28.3 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   12 35 22.5   -05 38 60     2.107    3.066  161.6    5.9   298   28.2 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   12 34 23.6   -05 32 51     2.105    3.069  162.9    5.5   299   28.2 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   12 33 24.2   -05 26 37     2.104    3.073  164.1    5.1   299   28.2 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   12 32 24.3   -05 20 18     2.103    3.076  165.4    4.7   300   28.2 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   12 31 23.9   -05 13 55     2.103    3.080  166.7    4.3   300   28.2 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   12 30 23.1   -05 07 29     2.103    3.083  167.9    3.9   301   28.1 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   12 29 22.1   -05 00 59     2.103    3.086  169.2    3.5   302   28.1 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   12 28 20.7   -04 54 25     2.103    3.090  170.4    3.1   303   28.1 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   12 27 19.1   -04 47 50     2.104    3.093  171.7    2.7   305   28.1 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   12 26 17.4   -04 41 11     2.105    3.096  172.9    2.3   307   28.0 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   12 25 15.6   -04 34 31     2.106    3.100  174.1    1.9   310   28.0 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   12 24 13.8   -04 27 50     2.108    3.103  175.4    1.5   315   28.0 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   12 23 12.0   -04 21 07     2.110    3.106  176.5    1.1   322   28.0 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   12 22 10.3   -04 14 23     2.112    3.109  177.5    0.8   337   27.9 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   12 21 08.7   -04 07 39     2.115    3.112  178.2    0.6     6   27.9 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   12 20 07.3   -04 00 55     2.118    3.116  178.2    0.6    47   27.9 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   12 19 06.2   -03 54 11     2.121    3.119  177.4    0.8    73   28.0 

    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.