(416) Vaticana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Jan 2026	12.3	2.850 AU	2.049 AU	11h27m	+23°05'	137.1°	13.6°
Opposition	25 Feb 2026	11.8	2.777 AU	1.824 AU	11h07m	+26°51'	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)                : 0.2197317
            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
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   11 27 51.1   +23 05 41     2.049    2.850  137.1   13.6   274   12.3 
2026-01-24 08:01 UT   11 27 46.5   +23 07 56     2.045    2.849  137.4   13.5   274   12.3 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   11 27 36.8   +23 12 26     2.038    2.848  138.1   13.4   273   12.3 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   11 27 20.9   +23 19 16     2.028    2.845  139.0   13.1   272   12.3 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   11 27 03.5   +23 26 10     2.018    2.843  140.0   12.9   271   12.3 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   11 26 44.4   +23 33 10     2.008    2.841  141.0   12.6   270   12.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   11 26 23.7   +23 40 13     1.998    2.839  141.9   12.4   269   12.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   11 26 01.4   +23 47 20     1.988    2.837  142.9   12.1   268   12.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   11 25 37.5   +23 54 30     1.979    2.834  143.8   11.8   267   12.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   11 25 12.1   +24 01 43     1.970    2.832  144.8   11.6   266   12.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   11 24 45.1   +24 08 58     1.961    2.830  145.7   11.3   265   12.1 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   11 24 16.6   +24 16 15     1.952    2.828  146.6   11.1   264   12.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   11 23 46.5   +24 23 34     1.944    2.825  147.5   10.8   262   12.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   11 23 14.9   +24 30 55     1.936    2.823  148.4   10.5   261   12.1 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   11 22 41.7   +24 38 16     1.928    2.821  149.3   10.3   259   12.1 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   11 22 07.1   +24 45 37     1.920    2.819  150.2   10.0   258   12.0 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   11 21 31.0   +24 52 58     1.912    2.816  151.1    9.8   256   12.0 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   11 20 53.5   +25 00 18     1.905    2.814  151.9    9.5   254   12.0 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   11 20 14.5   +25 07 37     1.898    2.812  152.7    9.3   252   12.0 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   11 19 34.2   +25 14 54     1.892    2.810  153.5    9.0   250   12.0 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   11 18 52.5   +25 22 08     1.885    2.807  154.3    8.8   248   11.9 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   11 18 09.5   +25 29 20     1.879    2.805  155.1    8.5   246   11.9 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   11 17 25.2   +25 36 28     1.873    2.803  155.8    8.3   243   11.9 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   11 16 39.6   +25 43 32     1.867    2.801  156.5    8.1   241   11.9 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   11 15 52.9   +25 50 32     1.862    2.798  157.1    7.9   238   11.9 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   11 15 05.0   +25 57 26     1.857    2.796  157.7    7.7   235   11.8 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   11 14 16.0   +26 04 15     1.852    2.794  158.2    7.5   232   11.8 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   11 13 25.9   +26 10 57     1.847    2.792  158.7    7.4   229   11.8 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   11 12 34.9   +26 17 32     1.843    2.789  159.2    7.2   226   11.8 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   11 11 42.9   +26 24 00     1.839    2.787  159.6    7.1   223   11.8 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   11 10 50.0   +26 30 20     1.835    2.785  159.9    7.0   219   11.8 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   11 09 56.2   +26 36 32     1.832    2.783  160.1    6.9   216   11.8 

    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.