2021 RW5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Jan 2026	31.8	3.139 AU	2.292 AU	10h24m	+05°57'	143.7°	10.7°

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 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
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   10 24 29.7   +05 57 27     2.292    3.139  143.7   10.7   296   31.8 
2026-01-20 21:32 UT   10 23 51.6   +06 01 38     2.284    3.140  144.8   10.4   297   31.8 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   10 23 47.2   +06 02 07     2.283    3.140  144.9   10.4   297   31.8 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   10 23 03.4   +06 06 56     2.275    3.140  146.1   10.1   297   31.8 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   10 22 18.3   +06 11 54     2.267    3.140  147.3    9.7   297   31.8 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   10 21 32.1   +06 17 00     2.259    3.141  148.5    9.4   297   31.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   10 20 44.7   +06 22 15     2.251    3.141  149.8    9.1   298   31.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   10 19 56.2   +06 27 38     2.244    3.141  151.0    8.7   298   31.7 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   10 19 06.5   +06 33 08     2.237    3.142  152.2    8.4   298   31.7 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   10 18 15.8   +06 38 46     2.230    3.142  153.5    8.0   298   31.7 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   10 17 24.0   +06 44 32     2.223    3.142  154.7    7.7   299   31.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   10 16 31.3   +06 50 25     2.217    3.142  155.9    7.3   299   31.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   10 15 37.5   +06 56 25     2.211    3.143  157.2    7.0   300   31.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   10 14 42.9   +07 02 32     2.206    3.143  158.4    6.6   300   31.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   10 13 47.3   +07 08 45     2.200    3.143  159.7    6.2   301   31.5 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   10 12 51.0   +07 15 04     2.195    3.143  160.9    5.9   301   31.5 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   10 11 53.8   +07 21 29     2.190    3.143  162.2    5.5   302   31.5 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   10 10 55.8   +07 28 00     2.186    3.144  163.4    5.1   303   31.5 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   10 09 57.2   +07 34 37     2.182    3.144  164.7    4.7   304   31.4 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   10 08 57.9   +07 41 18     2.178    3.144  165.9    4.4   305   31.4 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   10 07 58.0   +07 48 04     2.174    3.144  167.2    4.0   306   31.4 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   10 06 57.5   +07 54 55     2.171    3.144  168.4    3.6   308   31.4 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   10 05 56.5   +08 01 50     2.168    3.144  169.7    3.2   310   31.3 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   10 04 55.0   +08 08 48     2.166    3.144  170.9    2.9   312   31.3 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   10 03 53.1   +08 15 50     2.163    3.144  172.1    2.5   316   31.3 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   10 02 50.9   +08 22 55     2.162    3.144  173.2    2.1   320   31.3 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   10 01 48.4   +08 30 02     2.160    3.144  174.3    1.8   326   31.2 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   10 00 45.7   +08 37 12     2.159    3.144  175.3    1.5   335   31.2 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   09 59 42.8   +08 44 24     2.158    3.144  176.1    1.2   349   31.2 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   09 58 39.8   +08 51 37     2.157    3.144  176.6    1.1     8   31.2 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   09 57 36.7   +08 58 52     2.157    3.144  176.7    1.0    30   31.2 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   09 56 33.6   +09 06 07     2.157    3.144  176.3    1.2    50   31.2 

    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.