2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Jun 2026	28.4	3.967 AU	3.827 AU	00h15m	-02°02'	90.4°	14.8°

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 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
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   00 15 16.2   -02 02 19     3.827    3.967   90.4   14.8   247   28.4 
2026-06-25 20:27 UT   00 15 28.7   -02 01 35     3.812    3.965   91.2   14.8   247   28.4 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   00 15 30.8   -02 01 27     3.810    3.965   91.3   14.8   247   28.4 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   00 15 44.7   -02 00 41     3.792    3.964   92.2   14.8   247   28.4 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   00 15 57.7   -02 00 01     3.775    3.962   93.1   14.8   247   28.4 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   00 16 09.9   -01 59 27     3.758    3.961   94.0   14.8   247   28.3 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   00 16 21.2   -01 58 58     3.740    3.959   94.9   14.8   247   28.3 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   00 16 31.8   -01 58 34     3.723    3.957   95.8   14.8   247   28.3 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   00 16 41.4   -01 58 17     3.706    3.956   96.7   14.8   247   28.3 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   00 16 50.2   -01 58 06     3.689    3.954   97.6   14.8   247   28.3 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   00 16 58.2   -01 58 00     3.671    3.953   98.6   14.7   247   28.3 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   00 17 05.2   -01 58 01     3.654    3.951   99.5   14.7   247   28.3 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   00 17 11.4   -01 58 08     3.637    3.949  100.4   14.7   247   28.3 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   00 17 16.6   -01 58 21     3.620    3.948  101.4   14.6   247   28.2 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   00 17 20.9   -01 58 40     3.603    3.946  102.3   14.6   247   28.2 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   00 17 24.3   -01 59 05     3.586    3.944  103.2   14.5   247   28.2 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   00 17 26.7   -01 59 37     3.569    3.943  104.2   14.5   247   28.2 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   00 17 28.2   -02 00 15     3.552    3.941  105.1   14.4   248   28.2 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   00 17 28.7   -02 01 00     3.535    3.939  106.1   14.4   248   28.2 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   00 17 28.2   -02 01 51     3.518    3.938  107.0   14.3   248   28.2 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   00 17 26.7   -02 02 49     3.501    3.936  108.0   14.2   248   28.2 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   00 17 24.3   -02 03 53     3.484    3.934  109.0   14.1   248   28.1 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   00 17 20.8   -02 05 04     3.468    3.932  109.9   14.1   248   28.1 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   00 17 16.3   -02 06 22     3.451    3.930  110.9   14.0   248   28.1 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   00 17 10.8   -02 07 46     3.435    3.929  111.9   13.9   248   28.1 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   00 17 04.3   -02 09 17     3.418    3.927  112.9   13.8   248   28.1 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   00 16 56.7   -02 10 55     3.402    3.925  113.9   13.7   248   28.1 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   00 16 48.1   -02 12 40     3.386    3.923  114.9   13.6   248   28.0 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   00 16 38.4   -02 14 31     3.370    3.921  115.9   13.5   248   28.0 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   00 16 27.7   -02 16 29     3.354    3.919  116.9   13.4   248   28.0 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   00 16 15.9   -02 18 34     3.338    3.917  117.9   13.2   249   28.0 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   00 16 03.0   -02 20 45     3.322    3.915  118.9   13.1   249   28.0 

    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.