2021 RW5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Oct 2025	32.8	3.041 AU	3.439 AU	10h03m	+08°00'	58.6°	16.2°

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 RW5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5180010
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0712391
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.20317
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 164.25509
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.66517
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 151.90967
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 148.07861
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.29989
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.98            
        

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
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   10 03 05.9   +08 00 24     3.439    3.041   58.6   16.2   288   32.8 
2025-10-22 08:57 UT   10 03 26.9   +07 58 28     3.435    3.042   58.8   16.3   288   32.8 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   10 04 02.0   +07 55 14     3.428    3.043   59.3   16.3   288   32.8 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   10 04 57.6   +07 50 06     3.417    3.045   60.1   16.4   288   32.8 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   10 05 52.5   +07 45 01     3.405    3.046   60.8   16.6   288   32.8 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   10 06 46.8   +07 39 58     3.393    3.048   61.6   16.7   289   32.8 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   10 07 40.4   +07 34 57     3.382    3.050   62.3   16.8   289   32.8 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   10 08 33.4   +07 29 59     3.370    3.052   63.1   16.9   289   32.8 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   10 09 25.7   +07 25 03     3.358    3.053   63.8   17.0   289   32.8 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   10 10 17.4   +07 20 10     3.346    3.055   64.6   17.1   289   32.8 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   10 11 08.4   +07 15 20     3.334    3.057   65.4   17.2   289   32.8 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   10 11 58.7   +07 10 33     3.322    3.058   66.2   17.3   289   32.8 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   10 12 48.3   +07 05 49     3.309    3.060   66.9   17.4   289   32.8 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   10 13 37.2   +07 01 08     3.297    3.062   67.7   17.4   289   32.8 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   10 14 25.4   +06 56 30     3.284    3.063   68.5   17.5   289   32.8 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   10 15 12.9   +06 51 55     3.272    3.065   69.3   17.6   290   32.8 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   10 15 59.7   +06 47 23     3.259    3.066   70.1   17.7   290   32.8 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   10 16 45.7   +06 42 55     3.246    3.068   70.9   17.8   290   32.8 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   10 17 31.0   +06 38 30     3.233    3.069   71.7   17.8   290   32.8 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   10 18 15.5   +06 34 09     3.220    3.071   72.5   17.9   290   32.8 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   10 18 59.2   +06 29 52     3.207    3.072   73.3   18.0   290   32.8 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   10 19 42.2   +06 25 38     3.194    3.074   74.1   18.0   290   32.8 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   10 20 24.3   +06 21 28     3.181    3.075   74.9   18.1   290   32.8 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   10 21 05.7   +06 17 23     3.167    3.077   75.7   18.2   290   32.7 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   10 21 46.2   +06 13 21     3.154    3.078   76.6   18.2   290   32.7 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   10 22 25.9   +06 09 23     3.140    3.080   77.4   18.3   290   32.7 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   10 23 04.7   +06 05 30     3.127    3.081   78.2   18.3   291   32.7 
2025-11-17 00:00 UT   10 23 42.7   +06 01 42     3.113    3.083   79.1   18.4   291   32.7 
2025-11-18 00:00 UT   10 24 19.7   +05 57 58     3.100    3.084   79.9   18.4   291   32.7 
2025-11-19 00:00 UT   10 24 55.9   +05 54 18     3.086    3.085   80.7   18.4   291   32.7 
2025-11-20 00:00 UT   10 25 31.2   +05 50 44     3.072    3.087   81.6   18.5   291   32.7 
2025-11-21 00:00 UT   10 26 05.6   +05 47 14     3.058    3.088   82.4   18.5   291   32.7 

    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.