2018 BJ1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Dec 2025	30.8	2.743 AU	3.420 AU	15h00m	-18°17'	40.2°	13.4°

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 2018 BJ1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6038687
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.7271402
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.59454
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 284.07017
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 103.79811
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 188.50790
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 207.87342
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.54851
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.27            
        

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
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   15 00 04.6   -18 17 50     3.420    2.743   40.2   13.4   285   30.8 
2025-12-20 22:27 UT   15 01 20.3   -18 23 13     3.410    2.741   40.8   13.6   285   30.8 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   15 01 25.5   -18 23 35     3.409    2.741   40.8   13.6   285   30.8 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   15 02 46.3   -18 29 17     3.398    2.740   41.5   13.8   285   30.8 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   15 04 06.8   -18 34 57     3.387    2.739   42.2   14.0   285   30.8 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   15 05 27.2   -18 40 33     3.375    2.738   42.9   14.2   285   30.8 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   15 06 47.4   -18 46 07     3.364    2.737   43.6   14.4   285   30.8 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   15 08 07.4   -18 51 37     3.352    2.735   44.3   14.5   284   30.8 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   15 09 27.2   -18 57 05     3.340    2.734   45.0   14.7   284   30.8 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   15 10 46.7   -19 02 30     3.328    2.733   45.7   14.9   284   30.8 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   15 12 06.1   -19 07 51     3.316    2.731   46.4   15.1   284   30.8 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   15 13 25.2   -19 13 10     3.303    2.730   47.1   15.3   284   30.8 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   15 14 44.0   -19 18 25     3.291    2.729   47.8   15.5   284   30.8 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   15 16 02.6   -19 23 38     3.278    2.727   48.5   15.7   284   30.8 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   15 17 21.0   -19 28 48     3.266    2.726   49.2   15.8   284   30.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   15 18 39.1   -19 33 54     3.253    2.724   49.9   16.0   284   30.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   15 19 57.0   -19 38 58     3.240    2.723   50.6   16.2   284   30.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   15 21 14.6   -19 43 58     3.226    2.721   51.3   16.4   284   30.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   15 22 31.9   -19 48 56     3.213    2.720   52.0   16.5   284   30.8 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   15 23 48.9   -19 53 50     3.200    2.718   52.7   16.7   284   30.8 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   15 25 05.6   -19 58 41     3.186    2.717   53.4   16.9   283   30.8 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   15 26 22.0   -20 03 30     3.173    2.715   54.1   17.1   283   30.8 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   15 27 38.1   -20 08 15     3.159    2.713   54.8   17.2   283   30.8 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   15 28 53.9   -20 12 57     3.145    2.712   55.5   17.4   283   30.8 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   15 30 09.4   -20 17 36     3.131    2.710   56.2   17.6   283   30.8 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   15 31 24.4   -20 22 12     3.117    2.708   56.9   17.7   283   30.8 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   15 32 39.2   -20 26 44     3.102    2.707   57.7   17.9   283   30.8 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   15 33 53.5   -20 31 14     3.088    2.705   58.4   18.0   283   30.7 

    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.