2021 RL3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	4 Oct 2026	30.4	3.726 AU	3.935 AU	17h22m	-12°55'	70.7°	14.7°

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 RL3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7485486
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.1501452
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.97667
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 175.18131
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 275.89511
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 163.82038
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 91.18549
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.91791
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.15            
        

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
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   17 22 48.8   -12 55 34     3.935    3.726   70.7   14.7    90   30.4 
2026-10-04 02:38 UT   17 22 52.7   -12 55 54     3.937    3.726   70.6   14.7    90   30.4 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   17 23 24.7   -12 58 36     3.949    3.725   69.9   14.6    90   30.4 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   17 24 01.4   -13 01 36     3.963    3.724   69.1   14.5    90   30.4 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   17 24 38.8   -13 04 34     3.976    3.723   68.2   14.4    89   30.4 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   17 25 16.9   -13 07 31     3.989    3.722   67.4   14.4    89   30.4 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   17 25 55.7   -13 10 26     4.003    3.721   66.6   14.3    89   30.4 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   17 26 35.2   -13 13 19     4.016    3.720   65.8   14.2    89   30.4 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   17 27 15.4   -13 16 10     4.029    3.719   65.0   14.1    89   30.4 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   17 27 56.3   -13 18 60     4.042    3.717   64.2   14.0    88   30.4 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   17 28 37.9   -13 21 48     4.055    3.716   63.4   13.9    88   30.4 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   17 29 20.2   -13 24 33     4.067    3.715   62.6   13.8    88   30.4 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   17 30 03.1   -13 27 17     4.080    3.714   61.8   13.7    88   30.4 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   17 30 46.6   -13 29 59     4.093    3.713   61.0   13.6    87   30.4 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   17 31 30.8   -13 32 39     4.105    3.711   60.2   13.5    87   30.4 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   17 32 15.5   -13 35 16     4.117    3.710   59.4   13.4    87   30.4 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   17 33 00.9   -13 37 52     4.129    3.709   58.6   13.3    87   30.4 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   17 33 46.9   -13 40 25     4.141    3.708   57.8   13.1    87   30.4 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   17 34 33.5   -13 42 57     4.153    3.706   57.0   13.0    86   30.4 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   17 35 20.7   -13 45 26     4.165    3.705   56.2   12.9    86   30.4 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   17 36 08.5   -13 47 53     4.176    3.704   55.5   12.8    86   30.4 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   17 36 56.8   -13 50 17     4.188    3.702   54.7   12.7    86   30.4 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   17 37 45.6   -13 52 39     4.199    3.701   53.9   12.5    85   30.4 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   17 38 35.0   -13 54 59     4.210    3.700   53.1   12.4    85   30.4 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   17 39 25.0   -13 57 17     4.221    3.698   52.3   12.3    85   30.4 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   17 40 15.5   -13 59 32     4.232    3.697   51.6   12.2    84   30.4 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   17 41 06.4   -14 01 45     4.243    3.696   50.8   12.0    84   30.4 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   17 41 58.0   -14 03 55     4.253    3.694   50.0   11.9    84   30.4 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   17 42 50.0   -14 06 03     4.264    3.693   49.2   11.8    84   30.4 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   17 43 42.5   -14 08 09     4.274    3.691   48.5   11.6    83   30.4 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   17 44 35.5   -14 10 12     4.284    3.690   47.7   11.5    83   30.4 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   17 45 29.0   -14 12 12     4.294    3.688   46.9   11.3    83   30.4 

    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.