2018 LT5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Dec 2025	30.2	2.373 AU	3.067 AU	20h30m	-24°21'	38.2°	14.9°

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 LT5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6397934
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.7711841
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.30367
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 84.39112
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 83.70101
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 79.73899
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 168.02594
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 8.25319
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.36            
        

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
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   20 30 05.3   -24 21 49     3.067    2.373   38.2   14.9    83   30.2 
2025-12-18 03:35 UT   20 30 21.2   -24 20 54     3.069    2.374   38.1   14.8    83   30.2 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   20 31 51.7   -24 15 41     3.081    2.378   37.6   14.6    83   30.2 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   20 33 37.7   -24 09 31     3.094    2.384   37.0   14.4    83   30.2 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   20 35 23.5   -24 03 17     3.108    2.389   36.4   14.2    83   30.2 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   20 37 09.0   -23 57 01     3.121    2.394   35.8   13.9    83   30.2 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   20 38 54.2   -23 50 43     3.134    2.399   35.2   13.7    83   30.2 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   20 40 39.2   -23 44 21     3.147    2.404   34.7   13.5    83   30.2 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   20 42 23.9   -23 37 57     3.160    2.409   34.1   13.2    83   30.2 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   20 44 08.3   -23 31 31     3.173    2.414   33.5   13.0    83   30.2 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   20 45 52.5   -23 25 02     3.185    2.419   32.9   12.7    83   30.2 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   20 47 36.4   -23 18 30     3.198    2.424   32.3   12.5    83   30.2 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   20 49 20.0   -23 11 56     3.210    2.429   31.7   12.3    83   30.2 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   20 51 03.3   -23 05 20     3.222    2.434   31.1   12.0    83   30.2 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   20 52 46.3   -22 58 41     3.235    2.439   30.5   11.8    83   30.2 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   20 54 29.1   -22 52 01     3.246    2.443   29.9   11.6    83   30.2 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   20 56 11.6   -22 45 17     3.258    2.448   29.3   11.3    83   30.2 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   20 57 53.9   -22 38 32     3.270    2.453   28.7   11.1    83   30.2 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   20 59 35.8   -22 31 45     3.281    2.458   28.1   10.9    84   30.2 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   21 01 17.5   -22 24 55     3.293    2.463   27.5   10.6    84   30.2 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   21 02 59.0   -22 18 04     3.304    2.467   26.9   10.4    84   30.2 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   21 04 40.1   -22 11 10     3.315    2.472   26.3   10.2    84   30.3 

    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.