2018 BJ1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Jan 2026	30.8	2.712 AU	3.145 AU	15h28m	-20°12'	55.5°	17.4°

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
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   15 28 53.9   -20 12 57     3.145    2.712   55.5   17.4   283   30.8 
2026-01-11 14:26 UT   15 29 39.3   -20 15 45     3.136    2.711   55.9   17.5   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 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   15 35 07.5   -20 35 40     3.073    2.703   59.1   18.2   283   30.7 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   15 36 21.1   -20 40 03     3.059    2.701   59.8   18.3   283   30.7 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   15 37 34.2   -20 44 23     3.044    2.700   60.5   18.5   283   30.7 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   15 38 47.0   -20 48 40     3.029    2.698   61.3   18.7   283   30.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   15 39 59.3   -20 52 53     3.014    2.696   62.0   18.8   282   30.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   15 41 11.2   -20 57 03     2.999    2.694   62.7   18.9   282   30.7 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   15 42 22.6   -21 01 11     2.984    2.692   63.5   19.1   282   30.7 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   15 43 33.5   -21 05 14     2.969    2.690   64.2   19.2   282   30.7 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   15 44 44.0   -21 09 15     2.953    2.688   64.9   19.4   282   30.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   15 45 54.0   -21 13 13     2.938    2.686   65.7   19.5   282   30.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   15 47 03.4   -21 17 07     2.922    2.684   66.4   19.6   282   30.7 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   15 48 12.4   -21 20 58     2.907    2.682   67.1   19.8   282   30.7 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   15 49 20.8   -21 24 46     2.891    2.680   67.9   19.9   282   30.6 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   15 50 28.7   -21 28 31     2.875    2.678   68.6   20.0   282   30.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   15 51 36.0   -21 32 12     2.859    2.676   69.4   20.2   282   30.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   15 52 42.7   -21 35 50     2.843    2.674   70.1   20.3   282   30.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   15 53 48.9   -21 39 26     2.827    2.672   70.9   20.4   282   30.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   15 54 54.5   -21 42 58     2.811    2.669   71.6   20.5   281   30.6 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   15 55 59.5   -21 46 27     2.795    2.667   72.4   20.6   281   30.6 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   15 57 03.9   -21 49 52     2.778    2.665   73.1   20.7   281   30.6 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   15 58 07.6   -21 53 15     2.762    2.663   73.9   20.8   281   30.6 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   15 59 10.7   -21 56 35     2.746    2.660   74.7   20.9   281   30.5 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   16 00 13.1   -21 59 51     2.729    2.658   75.4   21.0   281   30.5 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   16 01 14.9   -22 03 04     2.712    2.656   76.2   21.1   281   30.5 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   16 02 15.9   -22 06 14     2.696    2.654   77.0   21.2   281   30.5 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   16 03 16.2   -22 09 21     2.679    2.651   77.7   21.3   281   30.5 

    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.