2018 BJ1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Feb 2026	30.3	2.615 AU	2.440 AU	16h15m	-22°47'	88.9°	22.2°

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 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
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   16 15 54.1   -22 47 27     2.440    2.615   88.9   22.2   280   30.3 
2026-02-24 17:13 UT   16 16 28.0   -22 49 08     2.428    2.613   89.5   22.3   280   30.3 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   16 16 41.3   -22 49 47     2.423    2.613   89.7   22.3   280   30.3 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   16 17 27.4   -22 52 04     2.406    2.610   90.5   22.3   280   30.3 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   16 18 12.4   -22 54 18     2.388    2.607   91.4   22.3   280   30.2 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   16 18 56.4   -22 56 28     2.371    2.604   92.2   22.3   280   30.2 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   16 19 39.2   -22 58 36     2.354    2.601   93.0   22.4   280   30.2 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   16 20 21.0   -23 00 41     2.336    2.598   93.9   22.4   280   30.2 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   16 21 01.6   -23 02 42     2.319    2.596   94.7   22.4   280   30.2 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   16 21 41.0   -23 04 41     2.301    2.593   95.6   22.4   280   30.2 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   16 22 19.2   -23 06 36     2.284    2.590   96.4   22.4   280   30.1 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   16 22 56.2   -23 08 29     2.267    2.587   97.3   22.4   280   30.1 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   16 23 32.0   -23 10 18     2.249    2.584   98.1   22.3   280   30.1 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   16 24 06.5   -23 12 04     2.232    2.581   99.0   22.3   280   30.1 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   16 24 39.6   -23 13 47     2.215    2.578   99.9   22.3   280   30.1 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   16 25 11.5   -23 15 27     2.198    2.574  100.7   22.3   280   30.0 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   16 25 42.0   -23 17 04     2.180    2.571  101.6   22.2   279   30.0 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   16 26 11.0   -23 18 38     2.163    2.568  102.5   22.2   279   30.0 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   16 26 38.7   -23 20 08     2.146    2.565  103.4   22.1   279   30.0 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   16 27 04.9   -23 21 35     2.129    2.562  104.3   22.1   279   29.9 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   16 27 29.6   -23 22 59     2.112    2.559  105.2   22.0   279   29.9 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   16 27 52.8   -23 24 20     2.094    2.555  106.1   22.0   279   29.9 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   16 28 14.5   -23 25 37     2.077    2.552  107.0   21.9   279   29.9 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   16 28 34.6   -23 26 51     2.060    2.549  107.9   21.8   279   29.9 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   16 28 53.0   -23 28 02     2.044    2.546  108.8   21.7   279   29.8 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   16 29 09.9   -23 29 09     2.027    2.542  109.8   21.6   279   29.8 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   16 29 25.1   -23 30 13     2.010    2.539  110.7   21.5   279   29.8 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   16 29 38.5   -23 31 14     1.993    2.536  111.6   21.4   279   29.8 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   16 29 50.3   -23 32 11     1.976    2.532  112.6   21.3   279   29.7 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   16 30 00.3   -23 33 04     1.960    2.529  113.5   21.2   280   29.7 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   16 30 08.5   -23 33 54     1.943    2.525  114.5   21.1   280   29.7 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   16 30 14.9   -23 34 40     1.927    2.522  115.5   20.9   280   29.7 

    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.