2021 CU3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Jul 2026	29.8	4.173 AU	4.968 AU	04h31m	+06°50'	34.7°	8.0°

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 CU3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7812542
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4070240
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.83363
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.41646
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 101.88643
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 85.85319
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 66.88453
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 17.43883
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.73            
        

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
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   04 31 07.3   +06 50 30     4.968    4.173   34.7    8.0   239   29.8 
2026-07-01 03:27 UT   04 31 14.6   +06 50 34     4.967    4.173   34.8    8.0   239   29.8 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   04 31 58.0   +06 50 58     4.962    4.174   35.3    8.1   239   29.8 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   04 32 48.5   +06 51 23     4.955    4.176   36.0    8.2   240   29.8 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   04 33 38.7   +06 51 44     4.948    4.178   36.7    8.4   240   29.8 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   04 34 28.7   +06 52 01     4.941    4.179   37.4    8.5   241   29.8 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   04 35 18.3   +06 52 14     4.934    4.181   38.0    8.6   241   29.8 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   04 36 07.7   +06 52 24     4.927    4.183   38.7    8.7   242   29.8 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   04 36 56.8   +06 52 30     4.919    4.184   39.4    8.9   243   29.8 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   04 37 45.7   +06 52 32     4.912    4.186   40.1    9.0   243   29.8 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   04 38 34.2   +06 52 30     4.904    4.187   40.8    9.1   244   29.8 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   04 39 22.4   +06 52 25     4.896    4.189   41.5    9.3   244   29.8 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   04 40 10.3   +06 52 16     4.888    4.191   42.2    9.4   245   29.8 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   04 40 57.9   +06 52 03     4.879    4.192   42.9    9.5   245   29.8 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   04 41 45.1   +06 51 46     4.871    4.194   43.6    9.6   245   29.8 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   04 42 32.0   +06 51 25     4.862    4.195   44.3    9.7   246   29.8 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   04 43 18.6   +06 51 01     4.853    4.197   45.0    9.9   246   29.8 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   04 44 04.8   +06 50 33     4.844    4.198   45.7   10.0   247   29.8 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   04 44 50.6   +06 50 01     4.835    4.200   46.5   10.1   247   29.8 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   04 45 36.1   +06 49 25     4.825    4.201   47.2   10.2   248   29.8 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   04 46 21.1   +06 48 45     4.816    4.203   47.9   10.3   248   29.8 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   04 47 05.8   +06 48 02     4.806    4.204   48.6   10.4   248   29.8 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   04 47 50.1   +06 47 15     4.796    4.206   49.4   10.6   249   29.8 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   04 48 34.0   +06 46 24     4.786    4.207   50.1   10.7   249   29.8 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   04 49 17.5   +06 45 29     4.776    4.209   50.8   10.8   250   29.8 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   04 50 00.6   +06 44 31     4.766    4.210   51.6   10.9   250   29.8 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   04 50 43.3   +06 43 29     4.755    4.211   52.3   11.0   250   29.8 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   04 51 25.5   +06 42 23     4.745    4.213   53.0   11.1   251   29.8 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   04 52 07.3   +06 41 13     4.734    4.214   53.8   11.2   251   29.8 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   04 52 48.6   +06 40 00     4.723    4.216   54.5   11.3   252   29.8 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   04 53 29.5   +06 38 43     4.712    4.217   55.3   11.4   252   29.8 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   04 54 10.0   +06 37 22     4.701    4.218   56.0   11.5   252   29.8 

    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.