2021 AF8
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Nov 2025	24.6	2.973 AU	2.021 AU	02h23m	+14°49'	160.8°	6.3°

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 AF8 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5170238
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0154860
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.71036
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 42.45481
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 168.96245
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 215.35629
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 31.57159
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.85051
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.86            
        

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
2025-11-20 00:00 UT   02 23 18.2   +14 49 30     2.021    2.973  160.8    6.3    73   24.6 
2025-11-20 09:03 UT   02 22 53.0   +14 48 12     2.023    2.972  160.3    6.4    73   24.6 
2025-11-21 00:00 UT   02 22 11.7   +14 46 03     2.025    2.971  159.5    6.7    73   24.6 
2025-11-22 00:00 UT   02 21 06.1   +14 42 39     2.029    2.969  158.3    7.1    73   24.6 
2025-11-23 00:00 UT   02 20 01.5   +14 39 18     2.033    2.967  157.0    7.5    73   24.7 
2025-11-24 00:00 UT   02 18 58.0   +14 35 60     2.038    2.966  155.7    7.9    72   24.7 
2025-11-25 00:00 UT   02 17 55.7   +14 32 46     2.043    2.964  154.4    8.3    72   24.7 
2025-11-26 00:00 UT   02 16 54.5   +14 29 35     2.048    2.962  153.2    8.6    72   24.7 
2025-11-27 00:00 UT   02 15 54.5   +14 26 29     2.053    2.960  151.9    9.0    72   24.7 
2025-11-28 00:00 UT   02 14 55.8   +14 23 27     2.059    2.959  150.7    9.4    72   24.8 
2025-11-29 00:00 UT   02 13 58.4   +14 20 29     2.065    2.957  149.4    9.8    72   24.8 
2025-11-30 00:00 UT   02 13 02.4   +14 17 37     2.071    2.955  148.2   10.1    72   24.8 
2025-12-01 00:00 UT   02 12 07.7   +14 14 49     2.077    2.953  146.9   10.5    72   24.8 
2025-12-02 00:00 UT   02 11 14.4   +14 12 06     2.084    2.951  145.7   10.8    72   24.8 
2025-12-03 00:00 UT   02 10 22.5   +14 09 29     2.091    2.949  144.5   11.2    72   24.9 
2025-12-04 00:00 UT   02 09 32.1   +14 06 58     2.098    2.947  143.3   11.5    72   24.9 
2025-12-05 00:00 UT   02 08 43.2   +14 04 32     2.105    2.945  142.1   11.9    72   24.9 
2025-12-06 00:00 UT   02 07 55.8   +14 02 13     2.113    2.944  140.8   12.2    72   24.9 
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   02 07 09.9   +13 59 59     2.121    2.942  139.6   12.5    72   24.9 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   02 06 25.6   +13 57 52     2.129    2.940  138.5   12.8    71   25.0 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   02 05 42.8   +13 55 51     2.137    2.938  137.3   13.2    71   25.0 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   02 05 01.6   +13 53 57     2.146    2.936  136.1   13.5    71   25.0 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   02 04 22.1   +13 52 09     2.154    2.934  134.9   13.8    71   25.0 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   02 03 44.1   +13 50 28     2.163    2.932  133.7   14.0    71   25.0 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   02 03 07.7   +13 48 54     2.172    2.929  132.6   14.3    71   25.0 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   02 02 33.0   +13 47 27     2.182    2.927  131.4   14.6    71   25.1 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   02 01 60.0   +13 46 07     2.191    2.925  130.3   14.9    71   25.1 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   02 01 28.5   +13 44 55     2.201    2.923  129.1   15.1    71   25.1 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   02 00 58.8   +13 43 50     2.211    2.921  128.0   15.4    71   25.1 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   02 00 30.7   +13 42 52     2.221    2.919  126.9   15.7    71   25.1 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   02 00 04.3   +13 42 02     2.231    2.917  125.7   15.9    71   25.2 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   01 59 39.6   +13 41 19     2.241    2.915  124.6   16.1    71   25.2 

    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.