(416) Vaticana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Sep 2025	13.8	3.105 AU	3.834 AU	09h34m	+24°37'	38.1°	11.5°
Opposition	25 Feb 2026	11.8	2.777 AU	1.824 AU	11h07m	+26°50'	160.5°	6.8°

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 Vaticana are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2192251
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7944348
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.83800
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 57.96210
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 199.87634
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 221.62352
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 77.37917
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -4.33250
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.67            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-09-18 00:00 UT   09 34 41.3   +24 37 22     3.834    3.105   38.1   11.5   302   13.8 
2025-09-18 15:46 UT   09 35 38.7   +24 34 12     3.827    3.104   38.5   11.6   301   13.8 
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   09 36 08.6   +24 32 33     3.824    3.104   38.7   11.7   301   13.8 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   09 37 35.7   +24 27 45     3.813    3.102   39.3   11.8   301   13.8 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   09 39 02.6   +24 22 56     3.802    3.100   39.9   12.0   301   13.8 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   09 40 29.2   +24 18 09     3.792    3.098   40.5   12.2   301   13.8 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   09 41 55.5   +24 13 21     3.781    3.097   41.2   12.3   301   13.8 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   09 43 21.7   +24 08 34     3.770    3.095   41.8   12.5   301   13.8 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   09 44 47.5   +24 03 48     3.759    3.093   42.4   12.6   301   13.8 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   09 46 13.1   +23 59 03     3.747    3.091   43.0   12.8   301   13.8 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   09 47 38.5   +23 54 18     3.736    3.089   43.7   12.9   300   13.8 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   09 49 03.5   +23 49 34     3.725    3.088   44.3   13.1   300   13.8 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   09 50 28.3   +23 44 51     3.713    3.086   44.9   13.3   300   13.8 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   09 51 52.8   +23 40 09     3.701    3.084   45.6   13.4   300   13.8 
2025-10-01 00:00 UT   09 53 17.1   +23 35 28     3.689    3.082   46.2   13.6   300   13.8 
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   09 54 41.0   +23 30 48     3.677    3.080   46.8   13.7   300   13.8 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   09 56 04.7   +23 26 09     3.665    3.079   47.5   13.9   300   13.8 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   09 57 28.0   +23 21 32     3.653    3.077   48.1   14.0   300   13.8 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   09 58 51.1   +23 16 56     3.641    3.075   48.8   14.2   300   13.8 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   10 00 13.9   +23 12 21     3.629    3.073   49.4   14.3   299   13.8 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   10 01 36.3   +23 07 48     3.616    3.071   50.1   14.4   299   13.8 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   10 02 58.5   +23 03 16     3.603    3.070   50.7   14.6   299   13.8 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   10 04 20.3   +22 58 46     3.591    3.068   51.3   14.7   299   13.8 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   10 05 41.9   +22 54 18     3.578    3.066   52.0   14.9   299   13.8 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   10 07 03.1   +22 49 51     3.565    3.064   52.7   15.0   299   13.8 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   10 08 23.9   +22 45 27     3.552    3.062   53.3   15.2   299   13.8 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   10 09 44.5   +22 41 04     3.539    3.060   54.0   15.3   299   13.7 

    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.