2021 RL3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Dec 2025	29.9	3.367 AU	4.306 AU	17h12m	-14°32'	15.1°	4.4°

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)                : 0.7488543
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.1515192
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.98070
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 175.19827
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 275.87163
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 100.78555
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 91.17862
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.92238
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.16            
        

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
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   17 12 46.3   -14 32 29     4.306    3.367   15.1    4.4   308   29.9 
2025-12-23 07:12 UT   17 13 07.8   -14 32 42     4.307    3.368   15.3    4.4   307   29.9 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   17 13 58.0   -14 33 12     4.307    3.370   15.7    4.5   306   29.9 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   17 15 09.5   -14 33 52     4.306    3.374   16.3    4.7   305   29.9 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   17 16 20.8   -14 34 29     4.306    3.378   17.0    4.9   304   29.9 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   17 17 31.9   -14 35 01     4.305    3.381   17.6    5.0   302   29.9 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   17 18 42.7   -14 35 30     4.305    3.385   18.3    5.2   301   30.0 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   17 19 53.4   -14 35 55     4.304    3.388   18.9    5.4   300   30.0 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   17 21 03.7   -14 36 17     4.302    3.392   19.6    5.6   299   30.0 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   17 22 13.8   -14 36 35     4.301    3.396   20.2    5.8   298   30.0 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   17 23 23.7   -14 36 50     4.299    3.399   20.9    5.9   297   30.0 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   17 24 33.3   -14 37 01     4.298    3.403   21.6    6.1   296   30.0 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   17 25 42.7   -14 37 08     4.295    3.406   22.3    6.3   295   30.0 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   17 26 51.7   -14 37 12     4.293    3.410   23.0    6.5   294   30.0 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   17 28 00.6   -14 37 12     4.291    3.413   23.6    6.6   293   30.0 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   17 29 09.1   -14 37 09     4.288    3.416   24.3    6.8   293   30.0 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   17 30 17.3   -14 37 02     4.285    3.420   25.0    7.0   292   30.1 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   17 31 25.3   -14 36 52     4.282    3.423   25.7    7.2   291   30.1 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   17 32 32.9   -14 36 38     4.279    3.427   26.4    7.3   291   30.1 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   17 33 40.3   -14 36 21     4.276    3.430   27.1    7.5   290   30.1 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   17 34 47.3   -14 36 00     4.272    3.433   27.9    7.7   289   30.1 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   17 35 54.0   -14 35 36     4.268    3.437   28.6    7.9   289   30.1 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   17 37 00.4   -14 35 09     4.264    3.440   29.3    8.0   288   30.1 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   17 38 06.5   -14 34 38     4.260    3.443   30.0    8.2   288   30.1 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   17 39 12.2   -14 34 03     4.255    3.447   30.7    8.4   287   30.1 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   17 40 17.6   -14 33 25     4.251    3.450   31.4    8.6   287   30.1 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   17 41 22.6   -14 32 44     4.246    3.453   32.2    8.7   286   30.1 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   17 42 27.2   -14 31 59     4.241    3.456   32.9    8.9   286   30.1 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   17 43 31.4   -14 31 11     4.235    3.459   33.6    9.1   285   30.1 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   17 44 35.3   -14 30 19     4.230    3.463   34.4    9.2   285   30.2 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   17 45 38.8   -14 29 25     4.224    3.466   35.1    9.4   284   30.2 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   17 46 41.9   -14 28 27     4.218    3.469   35.8    9.6   284   30.2 

    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.