(416) Vaticana
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Dec 2025	13.2	2.946 AU	2.670 AU	11h13m	+20°19'	96.3°	19.4°
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
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   11 13 33.7   +20 19 15     2.670    2.946   96.3   19.4   292   13.2 
2025-12-10 21:36 UT   11 14 14.8   +20 19 43     2.656    2.944   97.1   19.4   292   13.2 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   11 14 19.4   +20 19 46     2.655    2.944   97.2   19.4   292   13.2 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   11 15 04.1   +20 20 25     2.639    2.942   98.0   19.4   292   13.1 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   11 15 47.8   +20 21 12     2.624    2.940   98.8   19.3   291   13.1 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   11 16 30.5   +20 22 08     2.608    2.938   99.6   19.3   291   13.1 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   11 17 12.2   +20 23 12     2.593    2.936  100.5   19.2   291   13.1 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   11 17 52.9   +20 24 25     2.577    2.934  101.3   19.2   291   13.1 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   11 18 32.5   +20 25 46     2.562    2.932  102.2   19.2   291   13.1 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   11 19 11.1   +20 27 16     2.546    2.930  103.0   19.1   290   13.1 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   11 19 48.6   +20 28 54     2.531    2.927  103.9   19.0   290   13.0 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   11 20 25.0   +20 30 42     2.516    2.925  104.7   19.0   290   13.0 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   11 21 00.2   +20 32 38     2.501    2.923  105.6   18.9   290   13.0 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   11 21 34.4   +20 34 43     2.486    2.921  106.5   18.8   289   13.0 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   11 22 07.3   +20 36 57     2.471    2.919  107.3   18.8   289   13.0 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   11 22 39.1   +20 39 21     2.456    2.917  108.2   18.7   289   13.0 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   11 23 09.7   +20 41 53     2.441    2.915  109.1   18.6   289   12.9 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   11 23 39.1   +20 44 34     2.426    2.913  110.0   18.5   288   12.9 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   11 24 07.3   +20 47 24     2.411    2.911  110.9   18.4   288   12.9 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   11 24 34.2   +20 50 24     2.397    2.908  111.8   18.3   288   12.9 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   11 24 59.9   +20 53 32     2.382    2.906  112.6   18.2   287   12.9 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   11 25 24.3   +20 56 50     2.368    2.904  113.5   18.1   287   12.8 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   11 25 47.4   +21 00 16     2.353    2.902  114.5   18.0   287   12.8 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   11 26 09.2   +21 03 52     2.339    2.900  115.4   17.8   286   12.8 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   11 26 29.7   +21 07 36     2.325    2.898  116.3   17.7   286   12.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   11 26 48.8   +21 11 30     2.311    2.896  117.2   17.6   286   12.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   11 27 06.6   +21 15 33     2.297    2.893  118.1   17.4   285   12.7 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   11 27 23.0   +21 19 44     2.283    2.891  119.0   17.3   285   12.7 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   11 27 38.0   +21 24 05     2.270    2.889  119.9   17.2   284   12.7 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   11 27 51.6   +21 28 34     2.256    2.887  120.9   17.0   284   12.7 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   11 28 03.8   +21 33 12     2.243    2.885  121.8   16.8   284   12.7 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   11 28 14.5   +21 37 59     2.229    2.883  122.7   16.7   283   12.7 

    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.