2021 AB
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Feb 2026	31.5	3.418 AU	4.338 AU	20h25m	-19°06'	18.8°	5.3°

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 AB are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6491595
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5127228
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.42596
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 293.09342
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 213.44249
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 72.21921
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 326.52775
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.78579
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.98            
        

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
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   20 25 44.7   -19 06 48     4.338    3.418   18.8    5.3   257   31.5 
2026-02-12 04:50 UT   20 25 59.3   -19 05 56     4.337    3.419   18.9    5.4   257   31.5 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   20 26 56.8   -19 02 31     4.337    3.422   19.5    5.5   257   31.5 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   20 28 08.5   -18 58 13     4.336    3.426   20.2    5.7   256   31.5 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   20 29 19.9   -18 53 54     4.335    3.431   20.9    5.9   256   31.5 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   20 30 30.9   -18 49 34     4.334    3.435   21.6    6.1   256   31.5 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   20 31 41.5   -18 45 15     4.332    3.439   22.4    6.3   256   31.5 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   20 32 51.8   -18 40 54     4.330    3.443   23.1    6.5   256   31.6 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   20 34 01.6   -18 36 33     4.329    3.448   23.8    6.6   256   31.6 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   20 35 11.1   -18 32 11     4.327    3.452   24.5    6.8   256   31.6 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   20 36 20.2   -18 27 50     4.324    3.456   25.3    7.0   256   31.6 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   20 37 28.9   -18 23 27     4.322    3.460   26.0    7.2   256   31.6 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   20 38 37.1   -18 19 05     4.319    3.464   26.7    7.4   256   31.6 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   20 39 45.0   -18 14 42     4.316    3.468   27.5    7.6   255   31.6 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   20 40 52.5   -18 10 19     4.313    3.473   28.2    7.7   255   31.6 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   20 41 59.5   -18 05 56     4.310    3.477   28.9    7.9   255   31.6 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   20 43 06.1   -18 01 33     4.307    3.481   29.6    8.1   255   31.6 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   20 44 12.3   -17 57 10     4.303    3.485   30.4    8.3   255   31.6 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   20 45 18.1   -17 52 47     4.299    3.489   31.1    8.4   255   31.7 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   20 46 23.5   -17 48 24     4.295    3.493   31.8    8.6   255   31.7 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   20 47 28.4   -17 44 01     4.291    3.497   32.6    8.8   255   31.7 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   20 48 32.9   -17 39 38     4.287    3.501   33.3    8.9   255   31.7 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   20 49 36.9   -17 35 15     4.282    3.505   34.1    9.1   255   31.7 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   20 50 40.5   -17 30 53     4.278    3.509   34.8    9.3   255   31.7 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   20 51 43.6   -17 26 30     4.273    3.513   35.5    9.4   255   31.7 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   20 52 46.3   -17 22 09     4.268    3.517   36.3    9.6   254   31.7 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   20 53 48.5   -17 17 47     4.263    3.521   37.0    9.8   254   31.7 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   20 54 50.3   -17 13 26     4.257    3.525   37.8    9.9   254   31.7 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   20 55 51.6   -17 09 06     4.252    3.529   38.5   10.1   254   31.7 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   20 56 52.4   -17 04 46     4.246    3.533   39.2   10.2   254   31.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   20 57 52.7   -17 00 26     4.240    3.537   40.0   10.4   254   31.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   20 58 52.6   -16 56 07     4.234    3.541   40.7   10.6   254   31.7 

    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.