2004 XD51
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Jul 2026	26.4	1.543 AU	0.654 AU	23h13m	-18°35'	133.7°	28.4°

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 2004 XD51 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2411301
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.2436125
            i (Inclination)                 : 6.79613
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 83.50326
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 54.31209
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 3.06620
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 137.62371
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.51544
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 1.39            
        

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
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   23 13 13.9   -18 35 27     0.654    1.543  133.7   28.4   259   26.4 
2026-07-20 09:10 UT   23 13 09.8   -18 40 46     0.652    1.543  134.1   28.2   259   26.4 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   23 13 02.2   -18 49 28     0.649    1.543  134.7   27.9   259   26.4 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   23 12 47.0   -19 03 53     0.643    1.543  135.7   27.4   260   26.3 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   23 12 28.3   -19 18 40     0.637    1.543  136.7   26.8   261   26.3 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   23 12 06.0   -19 33 50     0.632    1.543  137.7   26.3   261   26.2 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   23 11 40.1   -19 49 21     0.627    1.543  138.8   25.7   262   26.2 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   23 11 10.6   -20 05 14     0.621    1.543  139.8   25.1   263   26.2 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   23 10 37.4   -20 21 27     0.616    1.543  140.9   24.5   264   26.1 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   23 10 00.4   -20 38 00     0.611    1.543  141.9   23.9   265   26.1 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   23 09 19.7   -20 54 52     0.607    1.543  143.0   23.3   266   26.1 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   23 08 35.2   -21 12 03     0.602    1.543  144.0   22.7   267   26.0 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   23 07 46.9   -21 29 30     0.597    1.543  145.1   22.1   268   26.0 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   23 06 54.7   -21 47 14     0.593    1.543  146.2   21.5   270   26.0 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   23 05 58.6   -22 05 12     0.589    1.543  147.2   20.9   271   25.9 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   23 04 58.7   -22 23 24     0.585    1.543  148.3   20.2   272   25.9 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   23 03 54.9   -22 41 48     0.581    1.543  149.3   19.6   274   25.9 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   23 02 47.2   -23 00 23     0.577    1.543  150.4   19.0   276   25.8 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   23 01 35.7   -23 19 08     0.573    1.542  151.4   18.4   278   25.8 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   23 00 20.3   -23 37 60     0.570    1.542  152.4   17.7   280   25.8 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   22 59 01.1   -23 56 57     0.567    1.542  153.4   17.1   282   25.7 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 57 38.1   -24 15 59     0.563    1.541  154.4   16.5   284   25.7 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   22 56 11.5   -24 35 02     0.560    1.541  155.4   15.9   286   25.7 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   22 54 41.2   -24 54 05     0.558    1.541  156.3   15.4   289   25.6 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   22 53 07.4   -25 13 05     0.555    1.540  157.2   14.8   292   25.6 

    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.