2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	4 Sep 2026	27.2	3.824 AU	2.842 AU	23h52m	-05°20'	164.5°	4.0°

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
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   23 52 01.2   -05 20 03     2.842    3.824  164.5    4.0   262   27.2 
2026-09-04 08:20 UT   23 51 42.4   -05 22 07     2.840    3.823  164.9    3.9   262   27.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   23 51 06.9   -05 26 02     2.836    3.821  165.7    3.7   263   27.2 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   23 50 12.0   -05 32 03     2.830    3.819  166.9    3.4   264   27.2 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   23 49 16.6   -05 38 06     2.824    3.816  168.0    3.1   266   27.1 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   23 48 20.6   -05 44 10     2.819    3.814  169.2    2.8   269   27.1 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   23 47 24.2   -05 50 15     2.814    3.811  170.3    2.6   271   27.1 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   23 46 27.2   -05 56 21     2.810    3.808  171.4    2.3   275   27.1 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   23 45 29.9   -06 02 27     2.805    3.806  172.4    2.0   279   27.0 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   23 44 32.2   -06 08 34     2.801    3.803  173.4    1.7   285   27.0 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   23 43 34.1   -06 14 41     2.798    3.800  174.4    1.5   293   27.0 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   23 42 35.8   -06 20 47     2.794    3.798  175.1    1.3   304   27.0 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   23 41 37.2   -06 26 53     2.791    3.795  175.7    1.1   318   26.9 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   23 40 38.4   -06 32 58     2.788    3.792  175.9    1.1   334   26.9 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   23 39 39.4   -06 39 02     2.786    3.789  175.8    1.1   351   26.9 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 38 40.3   -06 45 04     2.784    3.787  175.3    1.2     6   26.9 
2026-09-19 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 

    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.