2021 AE2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 Jul 2026	27.1	1.979 AU	1.005 AU	22h03m	-12°22'	157.0°	11.6°

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 AE2 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3788325
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6202837
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.06688
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 125.36567
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 333.72763
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 132.32851
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 99.09724
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.47222
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.06            
        

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
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   22 03 28.4   -12 22 23     1.005    1.979  157.0   11.6   251   27.1 
2026-07-29 01:22 UT   22 03 24.8   -12 22 45     1.004    1.979  157.1   11.5   251   27.1 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   22 02 23.7   -12 29 04     0.997    1.976  158.2   11.0   251   27.0 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   22 01 16.8   -12 35 56     0.990    1.973  159.5   10.4   251   27.0 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   22 00 07.6   -12 42 60     0.982    1.969  160.7    9.8   251   26.9 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   21 58 56.3   -12 50 14     0.975    1.966  162.0    9.2   251   26.9 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   21 57 42.7   -12 57 38     0.968    1.962  163.3    8.6   252   26.9 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   21 56 27.1   -13 05 12     0.962    1.959  164.6    7.9   252   26.8 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   21 55 09.4   -13 12 56     0.956    1.955  165.9    7.3   252   26.8 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   21 53 49.8   -13 20 48     0.949    1.951  167.2    6.6   253   26.7 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   21 52 28.2   -13 28 48     0.944    1.948  168.5    6.0   253   26.7 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   21 51 04.8   -13 36 56     0.938    1.944  169.8    5.3   253   26.6 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   21 49 39.7   -13 45 11     0.933    1.941  171.1    4.6   254   26.6 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   21 48 12.9   -13 53 32     0.927    1.937  172.5    3.9   255   26.5 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   21 46 44.6   -14 01 58     0.923    1.933  173.8    3.2   256   26.4 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   21 45 14.8   -14 10 29     0.918    1.930  175.1    2.6   258   26.4 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   21 43 43.7   -14 19 04     0.914    1.926  176.5    1.9   261   26.3 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   21 42 11.4   -14 27 42     0.909    1.922  177.8    1.2   268   26.3 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   21 40 38.1   -14 36 23     0.906    1.918  179.0    0.5   292   26.2 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   21 39 03.8   -14 45 05     0.902    1.915  179.1    0.5    24   26.2 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   21 37 28.6   -14 53 47     0.899    1.911  177.9    1.1    52   26.2 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   21 35 52.8   -15 02 30     0.895    1.907  176.6    1.8    60   26.3 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   21 34 16.4   -15 11 12     0.893    1.903  175.2    2.5    63   26.3 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   21 32 39.6   -15 19 52     0.890    1.899  173.8    3.3    65   26.3 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   21 31 02.6   -15 28 29     0.888    1.895  172.5    4.0    66   26.4 

    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.