2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Sep 2026	26.9	3.787 AU	2.784 AU	23h38m	-06°45'	175.3°	1.2°

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)                : 0.7812089
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2700419
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.30916
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 37.08302
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 124.69401
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 205.31684
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -18.14703
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.54192
            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
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 38 40.3   -06 45 04     2.784    3.787  175.3    1.2     6   26.9 
2026-09-18 09:01 UT   23 38 18.0   -06 47 20     2.783    3.786  175.1    1.3    11   26.9 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   23 37 41.1   -06 51 05     2.782    3.784  174.6    1.4    18   27.0 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   23 36 41.8   -06 57 03     2.781    3.781  173.7    1.7    26   27.0 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   23 35 42.6   -07 02 59     2.780    3.778  172.7    1.9    33   27.0 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   23 34 43.4   -07 08 53     2.779    3.775  171.7    2.2    38   27.0 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   23 33 44.3   -07 14 44     2.779    3.773  170.6    2.5    41   27.0 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   23 32 45.3   -07 20 31     2.779    3.770  169.4    2.8    44   27.0 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   23 31 46.5   -07 26 16     2.779    3.767  168.3    3.1    47   27.1 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   23 30 47.9   -07 31 57     2.780    3.764  167.1    3.4    49   27.1 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   23 29 49.5   -07 37 34     2.781    3.761  165.9    3.7    50   27.1 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   23 28 51.5   -07 43 07     2.782    3.758  164.8    4.0    52   27.1 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   23 27 53.7   -07 48 36     2.784    3.755  163.6    4.3    53   27.1 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   23 26 56.3   -07 53 60     2.785    3.752  162.4    4.6    54   27.1 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   23 25 59.4   -07 59 19     2.788    3.749  161.2    4.9    55   27.2 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   23 25 02.8   -08 04 34     2.790    3.746  160.0    5.3    56   27.2 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   23 24 06.8   -08 09 44     2.793    3.743  158.8    5.6    57   27.2 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   23 23 11.3   -08 14 48     2.796    3.740  157.6    5.9    57   27.2 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   23 22 16.3   -08 19 47     2.799    3.737  156.3    6.2    58   27.2 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   23 21 22.0   -08 24 39     2.803    3.734  155.1    6.5    58   27.2 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   23 20 28.2   -08 29 26     2.807    3.731  153.9    6.8    59   27.3 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   23 19 35.2   -08 34 07     2.811    3.728  152.7    7.1    59   27.3 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   23 18 42.8   -08 38 42     2.816    3.725  151.5    7.3    60   27.3 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   23 17 51.3   -08 43 10     2.821    3.722  150.3    7.6    60   27.3 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   23 17 00.4   -08 47 31     2.826    3.719  149.1    7.9    61   27.3 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   23 16 10.4   -08 51 46     2.832    3.715  147.9    8.2    61   27.3 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   23 15 21.3   -08 55 54     2.837    3.712  146.7    8.5    61   27.3 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   23 14 33.0   -08 59 54     2.843    3.709  145.6    8.7    61   27.4 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   23 13 45.6   -09 03 48     2.849    3.706  144.4    9.0    62   27.4 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   23 12 59.2   -09 07 34     2.856    3.703  143.2    9.3    62   27.4 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   23 12 13.7   -09 11 13     2.863    3.699  142.0    9.5    62   27.4 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   23 11 29.2   -09 14 44     2.870    3.696  140.8    9.8    62   27.4 

    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.