2021 RL3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Jul 2026	29.4	3.759 AU	2.838 AU	17h32m	-08°41'	150.9°	7.6°

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
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   17 32 06.2   -08 41 60     2.838    3.759  150.9    7.6   121   29.4 
2026-07-11 23:15 UT   17 31 14.9   -08 43 30     2.845    3.759  149.9    7.8   120   29.4 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   17 31 13.3   -08 43 33     2.845    3.759  149.9    7.8   119   29.4 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   17 30 21.2   -08 45 10     2.853    3.760  148.9    8.0   118   29.4 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   17 29 30.0   -08 46 51     2.860    3.760  147.9    8.3   117   29.4 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   17 28 39.7   -08 48 36     2.868    3.760  146.9    8.5   116   29.5 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   17 27 50.4   -08 50 25     2.876    3.761  145.8    8.7   115   29.5 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   17 27 02.0   -08 52 18     2.884    3.761  144.8    9.0   115   29.5 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   17 26 14.6   -08 54 15     2.893    3.761  143.8    9.2   114   29.5 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   17 25 28.2   -08 56 15     2.902    3.761  142.7    9.4   113   29.5 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   17 24 42.9   -08 58 19     2.911    3.761  141.7    9.6   112   29.5 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   17 23 58.6   -09 00 26     2.920    3.762  140.7    9.9   112   29.6 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   17 23 15.4   -09 02 37     2.930    3.762  139.6   10.1   111   29.6 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   17 22 33.3   -09 04 52     2.939    3.762  138.6   10.3   110   29.6 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   17 21 52.2   -09 07 10     2.949    3.762  137.6   10.5   110   29.6 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   17 21 12.3   -09 09 30     2.960    3.762  136.5   10.7   109   29.6 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   17 20 33.5   -09 11 54     2.970    3.762  135.5   10.9   109   29.6 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   17 19 55.8   -09 14 21     2.981    3.762  134.5   11.1   108   29.6 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   17 19 19.3   -09 16 52     2.991    3.763  133.4   11.3   108   29.7 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   17 18 44.0   -09 19 24     3.002    3.763  132.4   11.5   107   29.7 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   17 18 09.8   -09 22 00     3.014    3.763  131.4   11.7   107   29.7 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   17 17 36.8   -09 24 39     3.025    3.763  130.4   11.9   106   29.7 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   17 17 05.0   -09 27 20     3.037    3.763  129.3   12.0   106   29.7 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   17 16 34.3   -09 30 04     3.048    3.763  128.3   12.2   105   29.7 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   17 16 04.9   -09 32 50     3.060    3.763  127.3   12.4   105   29.8 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   17 15 36.6   -09 35 39     3.072    3.763  126.3   12.6   105   29.8 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   17 15 09.6   -09 38 30     3.085    3.763  125.3   12.7   104   29.8 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   17 14 43.7   -09 41 23     3.097    3.763  124.2   12.9   104   29.8 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   17 14 19.1   -09 44 19     3.110    3.762  123.2   13.0   104   29.8 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   17 13 55.7   -09 47 16     3.122    3.762  122.2   13.2   103   29.8 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   17 13 33.5   -09 50 16     3.135    3.762  121.2   13.3   103   29.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   17 13 12.5   -09 53 18     3.148    3.762  120.2   13.5   103   29.9 

    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.