1999 VK12
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Aug 2026	26.0	1.564 AU	0.937 AU	15h26m	-31°25'	106.5°	38.5°

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 1999 VK12 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7767163
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2070168
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.56124
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 46.52813
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 105.30048
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 310.06813
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -27.96616
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 9.21933
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.28            
        

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
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   15 26 43.4   -31 25 17     0.937    1.564  106.5   38.5   101   26.0 
2026-08-03 19:16 UT   15 29 06.2   -31 28 45     0.952    1.574  106.3   38.2   101   26.1 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   15 29 40.9   -31 29 34     0.956    1.576  106.2   38.2   101   26.1 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   15 32 35.0   -31 33 35     0.975    1.588  105.9   37.9   101   26.1 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   15 35 25.9   -31 37 20     0.994    1.599  105.5   37.7   100   26.2 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   15 38 13.7   -31 40 51     1.013    1.611  105.2   37.4   100   26.2 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   15 40 58.6   -31 44 08     1.033    1.622  104.9   37.2   100   26.3 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   15 43 40.8   -31 47 11     1.052    1.634  104.5   36.9   100   26.3 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   15 46 20.4   -31 50 03     1.072    1.645  104.1   36.7   100   26.4 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   15 48 57.6   -31 52 44     1.092    1.657  103.7   36.5   100   26.4 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   15 51 32.4   -31 55 14     1.111    1.668  103.3   36.2   100   26.5 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   15 54 05.1   -31 57 35     1.131    1.679  102.9   36.0   100   26.5 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   15 56 35.6   -31 59 46     1.151    1.690  102.5   35.8    99   26.6 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   15 59 04.2   -32 01 48     1.171    1.702  102.1   35.6    99   26.6 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   16 01 30.9   -32 03 42     1.191    1.713  101.7   35.4    99   26.7 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   16 03 55.8   -32 05 28     1.211    1.724  101.3   35.2    99   26.7 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   16 06 19.0   -32 07 06     1.232    1.735  100.8   35.0    99   26.8 

    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.