2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Mar 2026	28.5	4.043 AU	5.019 AU	23h06m	-08°47'	10.1°	2.5°

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 2003 WP21 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7811031
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2701766
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.30825
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 37.10088
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 124.67263
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 147.70422
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -18.15060
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.54209
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.42            
        

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
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   23 06 44.3   -08 47 34     5.019    4.043   10.1    2.5   231   28.5 
2026-03-15 12:21 UT   23 07 12.0   -08 44 40     5.017    4.043   10.5    2.6   232   28.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   23 07 38.2   -08 41 56     5.016    4.043   10.8    2.7   232   28.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   23 08 31.9   -08 36 19     5.013    4.043   11.6    2.8   233   28.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   23 09 25.6   -08 30 43     5.010    4.043   12.3    3.0   234   28.5 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   23 10 19.1   -08 25 07     5.007    4.043   13.0    3.2   235   28.5 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   23 11 12.5   -08 19 32     5.003    4.043   13.8    3.4   235   28.5 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   23 12 05.9   -08 13 57     4.999    4.043   14.5    3.5   236   28.5 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   23 12 59.1   -08 08 24     4.996    4.043   15.3    3.7   237   28.5 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   23 13 52.2   -08 02 51     4.991    4.043   16.0    3.9   237   28.5 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   23 14 45.2   -07 57 19     4.987    4.043   16.7    4.1   237   28.5 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   23 15 38.0   -07 51 48     4.982    4.042   17.5    4.3   238   28.6 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   23 16 30.7   -07 46 18     4.978    4.042   18.2    4.4   238   28.6 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   23 17 23.3   -07 40 48     4.972    4.042   19.0    4.6   239   28.6 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   23 18 15.7   -07 35 20     4.967    4.042   19.7    4.8   239   28.6 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   23 19 08.0   -07 29 53     4.962    4.042   20.5    5.0   239   28.6 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   23 20 00.1   -07 24 27     4.956    4.041   21.2    5.1   240   28.6 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   23 20 52.1   -07 19 02     4.950    4.041   22.0    5.3   240   28.6 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   23 21 43.9   -07 13 38     4.944    4.041   22.7    5.5   240   28.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   23 22 35.5   -07 08 15     4.938    4.041   23.5    5.7   240   28.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   23 23 27.0   -07 02 54     4.931    4.040   24.2    5.8   240   28.6 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   23 24 18.3   -06 57 34     4.924    4.040   25.0    6.0   241   28.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   23 25 09.4   -06 52 15     4.918    4.040   25.7    6.2   241   28.6 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   23 26 00.4   -06 46 57     4.910    4.039   26.5    6.3   241   28.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   23 26 51.1   -06 41 41     4.903    4.039   27.2    6.5   241   28.6 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   23 27 41.7   -06 36 26     4.896    4.039   28.0    6.7   241   28.6 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   23 28 32.1   -06 31 12     4.888    4.038   28.7    6.8   242   28.6 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   23 29 22.2   -06 26 00     4.880    4.038   29.5    7.0   242   28.6 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   23 30 12.2   -06 20 49     4.872    4.038   30.2    7.2   242   28.6 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   23 31 02.0   -06 15 40     4.863    4.037   31.0    7.3   242   28.6 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   23 31 51.5   -06 10 33     4.855    4.037   31.7    7.5   242   28.7 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   23 32 40.8   -06 05 27     4.846    4.036   32.5    7.7   242   28.7 

    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.