2021 RL3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2026	30.2	3.469 AU	4.218 AU	17h46m	-14°28'	35.8°	9.6°

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 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
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   17 46 41.9   -14 28 27     4.218    3.469   35.8    9.6   284   30.2 
2026-01-22 08:09 UT   17 47 03.2   -14 28 06     4.216    3.470   36.1    9.6   284   30.2 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   17 47 44.6   -14 27 25     4.212    3.472   36.6    9.7   283   30.2 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 48 46.8   -14 26 21     4.206    3.475   37.3    9.9   283   30.2 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 49 48.6   -14 25 13     4.200    3.478   38.1   10.1   283   30.2 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 50 50.0   -14 24 02     4.193    3.481   38.8   10.2   282   30.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   17 51 51.0   -14 22 48     4.186    3.484   39.6   10.4   282   30.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   17 52 51.5   -14 21 31     4.180    3.487   40.3   10.5   282   30.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 53 51.5   -14 20 10     4.172    3.490   41.1   10.7   281   30.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 54 51.1   -14 18 47     4.165    3.493   41.8   10.8   281   30.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 55 50.3   -14 17 20     4.158    3.496   42.6   11.0   281   30.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 56 48.9   -14 15 51     4.150    3.499   43.3   11.1   280   30.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 57 47.1   -14 14 18     4.142    3.502   44.1   11.3   280   30.2 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 58 44.8   -14 12 43     4.134    3.505   44.9   11.4   280   30.2 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 59 42.0   -14 11 04     4.126    3.508   45.6   11.6   279   30.2 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   18 00 38.7   -14 09 23     4.118    3.511   46.4   11.7   279   30.2 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   18 01 34.8   -14 07 39     4.109    3.514   47.2   11.9   279   30.2 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   18 02 30.5   -14 05 51     4.101    3.517   47.9   12.0   278   30.2 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   18 03 25.6   -14 04 01     4.092    3.520   48.7   12.2   278   30.2 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   18 04 20.2   -14 02 09     4.083    3.522   49.5   12.3   278   30.2 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   18 05 14.2   -14 00 13     4.074    3.525   50.3   12.4   277   30.2 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   18 06 07.7   -13 58 14     4.064    3.528   51.0   12.6   277   30.2 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   18 07 00.6   -13 56 13     4.055    3.531   51.8   12.7   277   30.2 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   18 07 53.0   -13 54 09     4.045    3.534   52.6   12.8   277   30.2 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   18 08 44.7   -13 52 02     4.035    3.536   53.4   13.0   276   30.2 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   18 09 35.9   -13 49 53     4.025    3.539   54.2   13.1   276   30.2 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   18 10 26.4   -13 47 41     4.015    3.542   55.0   13.2   276   30.2 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   18 11 16.4   -13 45 27     4.005    3.544   55.7   13.3   276   30.2 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   18 12 05.7   -13 43 10     3.995    3.547   56.5   13.4   275   30.2 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   18 12 54.4   -13 40 50     3.984    3.550   57.3   13.6   275   30.2 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 13 42.4   -13 38 28     3.974    3.552   58.1   13.7   275   30.2 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 14 29.7   -13 36 04     3.963    3.555   58.9   13.8   275   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.