2021 RW5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Dec 2025	32.3	3.121 AU	2.638 AU	10h35m	+04°50'	110.4°	17.2°

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
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   10 35 03.0   +04 50 09     2.638    3.121  110.4   17.2   293   32.3 
2025-12-21 21:27 UT   10 35 02.3   +04 50 09     2.626    3.121  111.3   17.1   293   32.3 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   10 35 02.1   +04 50 10     2.625    3.122  111.4   17.1   293   32.3 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   10 34 59.9   +04 50 19     2.612    3.122  112.4   16.9   293   32.3 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   10 34 56.4   +04 50 38     2.598    3.123  113.5   16.8   293   32.3 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   10 34 51.4   +04 51 05     2.585    3.124  114.5   16.6   294   32.3 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   10 34 45.1   +04 51 41     2.572    3.125  115.6   16.5   294   32.3 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   10 34 37.4   +04 52 26     2.559    3.126  116.6   16.3   294   32.3 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   10 34 28.3   +04 53 20     2.546    3.126  117.7   16.2   294   32.2 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   10 34 17.8   +04 54 23     2.533    3.127  118.7   16.0   294   32.2 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   10 34 05.9   +04 55 36     2.520    3.128  119.8   15.8   294   32.2 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   10 33 52.6   +04 56 57     2.508    3.128  120.9   15.7   294   32.2 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   10 33 37.9   +04 58 28     2.496    3.129  121.9   15.5   294   32.2 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   10 33 21.8   +05 00 09     2.483    3.130  123.0   15.3   294   32.2 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   10 33 04.3   +05 01 59     2.471    3.130  124.1   15.1   294   32.1 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   10 32 45.3   +05 03 58     2.459    3.131  125.2   14.9   294   32.1 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   10 32 24.9   +05 06 07     2.447    3.132  126.3   14.7   294   32.1 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   10 32 03.1   +05 08 25     2.436    3.132  127.5   14.4   295   32.1 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   10 31 39.9   +05 10 53     2.424    3.133  128.6   14.2   295   32.1 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   10 31 15.2   +05 13 30     2.413    3.134  129.7   14.0   295   32.0 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   10 30 49.1   +05 16 17     2.402    3.134  130.8   13.7   295   32.0 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   10 30 21.6   +05 19 14     2.391    3.135  132.0   13.5   295   32.0 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   10 29 52.6   +05 22 20     2.380    3.135  133.1   13.2   295   32.0 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   10 29 22.3   +05 25 36     2.369    3.136  134.3   13.0   295   32.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   10 28 50.5   +05 29 02     2.359    3.136  135.4   12.7   295   32.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   10 28 17.3   +05 32 37     2.348    3.137  136.6   12.4   296   31.9 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   10 27 42.8   +05 36 22     2.338    3.137  137.8   12.2   296   31.9 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   10 27 06.9   +05 40 16     2.329    3.138  138.9   11.9   296   31.9 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   10 26 29.6   +05 44 20     2.319    3.138  140.1   11.6   296   31.9 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   10 25 50.9   +05 48 33     2.310    3.139  141.3   11.3   296   31.9 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   10 25 11.0   +05 52 55     2.301    3.139  142.5   11.0   296   31.8 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   10 24 29.7   +05 57 27     2.292    3.139  143.7   10.7   296   31.8 

    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.