(416) Vaticana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Feb 2026	11.9	2.803 AU	1.873 AU	11h17m	+25°36'	155.8°	8.3°
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
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   11 17 25.2   +25 36 28     1.873    2.803  155.8    8.3   243   11.9 
2026-02-14 10:43 UT   11 17 05.0   +25 39 38     1.870    2.802  156.1    8.2   242   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 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   11 09 01.8   +26 42 34     1.829    2.780  160.3    6.9   212   11.8 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   11 08 06.6   +26 48 27     1.826    2.778  160.4    6.9   208   11.8 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   11 07 10.8   +26 54 10     1.823    2.776  160.5    6.8   204   11.8 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   11 06 14.4   +26 59 42     1.821    2.773  160.4    6.9   201   11.7 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   11 05 17.5   +27 05 04     1.818    2.771  160.3    6.9   197   11.7 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   11 04 20.2   +27 10 14     1.817    2.769  160.2    7.0   193   11.7 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   11 03 22.5   +27 15 13     1.815    2.767  159.9    7.1   190   11.7 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   11 02 24.4   +27 19 59     1.814    2.764  159.6    7.2   186   11.7 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   11 01 26.2   +27 24 34     1.813    2.762  159.2    7.3   183   11.8 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   11 00 27.7   +27 28 55     1.812    2.760  158.8    7.5   179   11.8 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   10 59 29.1   +27 33 03     1.811    2.758  158.3    7.6   176   11.8 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   10 58 30.5   +27 36 58     1.811    2.755  157.8    7.8   173   11.8 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   10 57 31.9   +27 40 40     1.811    2.753  157.2    8.0   170   11.8 
2026-03-09 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 

    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.