2021 CU3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Aug 2026	29.8	4.248 AU	4.369 AU	05h08m	+05°40'	76.5°	13.4°

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
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   05 08 30.9   +05 40 54     4.369    4.248   76.5   13.4   260   29.8 
2026-08-26 07:13 UT   05 08 38.4   +05 40 01     4.365    4.249   76.7   13.4   261   29.8 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   05 08 55.5   +05 37 56     4.355    4.249   77.3   13.4   261   29.8 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   05 09 19.4   +05 34 55     4.341    4.250   78.1   13.5   261   29.8 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   05 09 42.5   +05 31 51     4.327    4.251   79.0   13.5   261   29.8 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   05 10 04.9   +05 28 43     4.313    4.252   79.8   13.5   262   29.7 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   05 10 26.6   +05 25 32     4.299    4.253   80.7   13.5   262   29.7 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   05 10 47.5   +05 22 17     4.285    4.254   81.5   13.6   262   29.7 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   05 11 07.6   +05 18 60     4.270    4.255   82.3   13.6   262   29.7 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   05 11 27.0   +05 15 39     4.256    4.256   83.2   13.6   263   29.7 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   05 11 45.6   +05 12 15     4.242    4.257   84.0   13.6   263   29.7 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   05 12 03.3   +05 08 48     4.227    4.258   84.9   13.6   263   29.7 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   05 12 20.3   +05 05 18     4.213    4.259   85.8   13.7   264   29.7 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   05 12 36.4   +05 01 45     4.198    4.259   86.6   13.7   264   29.7 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   05 12 51.7   +04 58 09     4.184    4.260   87.5   13.7   264   29.7 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   05 13 06.1   +04 54 29     4.169    4.261   88.4   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   05 13 19.7   +04 50 47     4.155    4.262   89.2   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   05 13 32.5   +04 47 02     4.140    4.263   90.1   13.7   265   29.7 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   05 13 44.3   +04 43 15     4.126    4.264   91.0   13.7   266   29.7 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   05 13 55.3   +04 39 24     4.111    4.264   91.9   13.6   266   29.7 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   05 14 05.3   +04 35 31     4.097    4.265   92.8   13.6   266   29.6 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   05 14 14.5   +04 31 35     4.082    4.266   93.6   13.6   266   29.6 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   05 14 22.7   +04 27 37     4.067    4.267   94.5   13.6   267   29.6 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   05 14 30.0   +04 23 36     4.053    4.267   95.4   13.6   267   29.6 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   05 14 36.4   +04 19 32     4.038    4.268   96.3   13.5   267   29.6 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   05 14 41.8   +04 15 27     4.024    4.269   97.2   13.5   268   29.6 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   05 14 46.3   +04 11 18     4.010    4.269   98.2   13.5   268   29.6 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   05 14 49.9   +04 07 08     3.995    4.270   99.1   13.4   268   29.6 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   05 14 52.4   +04 02 55     3.981    4.271  100.0   13.4   269   29.6 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   05 14 54.0   +03 58 41     3.966    4.271  100.9   13.3   269   29.6 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   05 14 54.7   +03 54 24     3.952    4.272  101.8   13.3   269   29.6 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   05 14 54.3   +03 50 05     3.938    4.273  102.7   13.2   270   29.6 

    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.