2021 RW5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Mar 2026	31.6	3.141 AU	2.201 AU	09h40m	+10°59'	157.5°	6.9°

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 RW5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5180010
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0712391
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.20317
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 164.25509
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.66517
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 151.90967
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 148.07861
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.29989
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.98            
        

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
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   09 40 32.4   +10 59 04     2.201    3.141  157.5    6.9   102   31.6 
2026-03-07 03:33 UT   09 40 24.3   +11 00 03     2.202    3.141  157.3    7.0   102   31.6 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   09 39 38.0   +11 05 40     2.206    3.140  156.3    7.3   103   31.6 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   09 38 44.5   +11 12 11     2.212    3.140  155.1    7.7   103   31.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   09 37 52.1   +11 18 37     2.218    3.140  153.8    8.0   103   31.6 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   09 37 00.6   +11 24 57     2.224    3.139  152.6    8.4   104   31.7 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   09 36 10.2   +11 31 12     2.230    3.139  151.4    8.7   104   31.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   09 35 20.9   +11 37 20     2.237    3.138  150.2    9.1   104   31.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   09 34 32.7   +11 43 23     2.244    3.138  149.0    9.4   104   31.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   09 33 45.7   +11 49 20     2.251    3.138  147.8    9.7   105   31.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   09 32 59.9   +11 55 10     2.259    3.137  146.6   10.1   105   31.8 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   09 32 15.3   +12 00 54     2.267    3.137  145.4   10.4   105   31.8 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   09 31 32.0   +12 06 32     2.275    3.136  144.2   10.7   105   31.8 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   09 30 50.0   +12 12 02     2.283    3.136  143.0   11.0   105   31.8 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   09 30 09.3   +12 17 25     2.291    3.135  141.8   11.3   105   31.8 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   09 29 29.9   +12 22 42     2.300    3.135  140.7   11.6   106   31.9 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   09 28 51.9   +12 27 51     2.309    3.134  139.5   11.9   106   31.9 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   09 28 15.3   +12 32 53     2.318    3.133  138.3   12.2   106   31.9 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   09 27 40.1   +12 37 47     2.328    3.133  137.2   12.5   106   31.9 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   09 27 06.3   +12 42 34     2.337    3.132  136.0   12.8   106   31.9 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   09 26 33.9   +12 47 14     2.347    3.132  134.9   13.0   106   32.0 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   09 26 02.9   +12 51 46     2.357    3.131  133.8   13.3   106   32.0 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   09 25 33.4   +12 56 10     2.367    3.130  132.7   13.6   106   32.0 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   09 25 05.3   +13 00 27     2.377    3.130  131.5   13.8   106   32.0 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   09 24 38.6   +13 04 36     2.388    3.129  130.4   14.1   106   32.0 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   09 24 13.5   +13 08 38     2.399    3.128  129.3   14.3   106   32.0 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   09 23 49.7   +13 12 32     2.409    3.128  128.2   14.5   106   32.1 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   09 23 27.5   +13 16 18     2.420    3.127  127.1   14.8   107   32.1 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   09 23 06.6   +13 19 56     2.432    3.126  126.1   15.0   107   32.1 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   09 22 47.3   +13 23 27     2.443    3.125  125.0   15.2   107   32.1 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   09 22 29.4   +13 26 51     2.454    3.125  123.9   15.4   107   32.1 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   09 22 13.0   +13 30 06     2.466    3.124  122.8   15.6   107   32.1 

    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.