2021 CU3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	2 Jan 2026	28.8	3.636 AU	3.183 AU	02h28m	-06°50'	109.8°	14.7°

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 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
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   02 28 31.9   -06 50 19     3.183    3.636  109.8   14.7    63   28.8 
2026-01-02 14:00 UT   02 28 25.7   -06 47 22     3.194    3.639  109.3   14.8    63   28.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   02 28 21.5   -06 45 15     3.202    3.640  108.9   14.8    63   28.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   02 28 12.3   -06 40 07     3.220    3.645  107.9   14.9    63   28.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   02 28 04.3   -06 34 54     3.239    3.649  107.0   14.9    64   28.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   02 27 57.4   -06 29 36     3.257    3.653  106.0   15.0    64   28.9 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   02 27 51.8   -06 24 15     3.276    3.658  105.1   15.0    65   28.9 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   02 27 47.2   -06 18 49     3.295    3.662  104.2   15.1    65   28.9 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   02 27 43.9   -06 13 19     3.314    3.666  103.2   15.1    65   28.9 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   02 27 41.7   -06 07 46     3.333    3.670  102.3   15.2    66   28.9 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   02 27 40.6   -06 02 08     3.352    3.675  101.4   15.2    66   28.9 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   02 27 40.6   -05 56 28     3.371    3.679  100.5   15.2    67   29.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   02 27 41.7   -05 50 44     3.390    3.683   99.5   15.3    67   29.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   02 27 43.9   -05 44 57     3.409    3.687   98.6   15.3    67   29.0 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   02 27 47.2   -05 39 06     3.428    3.691   97.7   15.3    68   29.0 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   02 27 51.6   -05 33 13     3.447    3.695   96.8   15.3    68   29.0 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   02 27 57.0   -05 27 17     3.466    3.699   95.9   15.3    68   29.0 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   02 28 03.5   -05 21 18     3.485    3.703   95.0   15.3    69   29.0 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   02 28 11.0   -05 15 17     3.505    3.708   94.1   15.3    69   29.1 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   02 28 19.5   -05 09 14     3.524    3.712   93.2   15.3    69   29.1 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   02 28 29.0   -05 03 08     3.543    3.716   92.3   15.3    70   29.1 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   02 28 39.5   -04 57 00     3.562    3.720   91.4   15.3    70   29.1 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   02 28 50.9   -04 50 50     3.582    3.724   90.6   15.3    70   29.1 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   02 29 03.4   -04 44 39     3.601    3.728   89.7   15.3    71   29.1 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   02 29 16.7   -04 38 25     3.620    3.732   88.8   15.3    71   29.1 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   02 29 31.0   -04 32 10     3.639    3.736   87.9   15.3    71   29.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   02 29 46.3   -04 25 54     3.659    3.740   87.0   15.2    72   29.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   02 30 02.4   -04 19 36     3.678    3.743   86.2   15.2    72   29.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   02 30 19.4   -04 13 17     3.697    3.747   85.3   15.2    72   29.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   02 30 37.3   -04 06 57     3.716    3.751   84.4   15.2    72   29.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   02 30 56.0   -04 00 36     3.735    3.755   83.6   15.1    73   29.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   02 31 15.6   -03 54 13     3.754    3.759   82.7   15.1    73   29.2 

    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.