(416) Vaticana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	25 Feb 2026	11.8	2.777 AU	1.824 AU	11h07m	+26°51'	160.5°	6.8°
Today	8 Mar 2026	11.8	2.753 AU	1.811 AU	10h57m	+27°40'	157.2°	8.0°

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)                : 0.2197317
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7918574
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.83213
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 57.91481
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 200.15509
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 263.59322
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 77.60567
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -4.38889
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.66            
        

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
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   10 57 31.9   +27 40 40     1.811    2.753  157.2    8.0   170   11.8 
2026-03-08 04:17 UT   10 57 21.5   +27 41 18     1.811    2.753  157.0    8.1   170   11.8 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   10 56 33.5   +27 44 07     1.812    2.751  156.5    8.3   168   11.8 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   10 55 35.1   +27 47 20     1.812    2.748  155.8    8.5   165   11.8 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   10 54 37.1   +27 50 19     1.813    2.746  155.1    8.7   163   11.8 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   10 53 39.3   +27 53 02     1.814    2.744  154.4    9.0   160   11.8 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   10 52 41.9   +27 55 32     1.815    2.741  153.6    9.3   158   11.8 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   10 51 44.9   +27 57 46     1.817    2.739  152.8    9.5   156   11.8 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   10 50 48.5   +27 59 44     1.819    2.737  152.0    9.8   154   11.8 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   10 49 52.7   +28 01 28     1.821    2.735  151.1   10.1   152   11.9 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   10 48 57.5   +28 02 56     1.823    2.732  150.3   10.4   151   11.9 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   10 48 03.0   +28 04 09     1.826    2.730  149.4   10.7   149   11.9 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   10 47 09.3   +28 05 06     1.829    2.728  148.5   11.0   147   11.9 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   10 46 16.4   +28 05 47     1.832    2.725  147.6   11.3   146   11.9 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   10 45 24.5   +28 06 13     1.835    2.723  146.7   11.6   144   11.9 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   10 44 33.5   +28 06 23     1.839    2.721  145.8   11.9   143   11.9 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   10 43 43.5   +28 06 17     1.843    2.718  144.8   12.2   142   12.0 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   10 42 54.7   +28 05 56     1.847    2.716  143.9   12.5   141   12.0 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   10 42 06.9   +28 05 20     1.851    2.714  142.9   12.8   139   12.0 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   10 41 20.4   +28 04 28     1.855    2.712  142.0   13.1   138   12.0 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   10 40 35.0   +28 03 22     1.860    2.709  141.0   13.4   137   12.0 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   10 39 51.0   +28 01 60     1.865    2.707  140.1   13.7   136   12.0 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   10 39 08.2   +28 00 23     1.870    2.705  139.1   14.0   135   12.0 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   10 38 26.8   +27 58 32     1.875    2.702  138.2   14.3   134   12.1 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   10 37 46.7   +27 56 26     1.881    2.700  137.2   14.6   133   12.1 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   10 37 08.1   +27 54 07     1.886    2.698  136.2   14.8   133   12.1 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   10 36 30.9   +27 51 33     1.892    2.695  135.3   15.1   132   12.1 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   10 35 55.2   +27 48 45     1.898    2.693  134.3   15.4   131   12.1 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   10 35 20.9   +27 45 43     1.904    2.691  133.4   15.7   130   12.1 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   10 34 48.2   +27 42 28     1.911    2.688  132.4   15.9   129   12.1 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   10 34 17.0   +27 39 00     1.917    2.686  131.4   16.2   129   12.2 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   10 33 47.4   +27 35 19     1.924    2.684  130.5   16.5   128   12.2 

    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.