2018 VK
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Oct 2026	29.9	2.320 AU	2.648 AU	09h41m	+16°33'	60.2°	21.9°

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 VK are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5510936
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.8337169
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.93476
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 29.69888
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 305.86889
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 39.84969
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -24.39652
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.37785
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.48            
        

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
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   09 41 30.1   +16 33 35     2.648    2.320   60.2   21.9   291   29.9 
2026-10-16 11:06 UT   09 42 04.3   +16 31 06     2.645    2.322   60.5   21.9   291   29.9 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   09 42 43.9   +16 28 14     2.641    2.324   60.8   22.0   291   29.9 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   09 43 56.8   +16 22 56     2.633    2.329   61.5   22.1   291   29.9 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   09 45 08.9   +16 17 42     2.625    2.334   62.2   22.2   291   29.9 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   09 46 20.1   +16 12 31     2.617    2.339   62.9   22.3   291   29.9 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   09 47 30.4   +16 07 23     2.609    2.344   63.6   22.4   291   29.9 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   09 48 39.9   +16 02 20     2.601    2.348   64.3   22.5   291   29.9 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   09 49 48.4   +15 57 20     2.593    2.353   65.0   22.5   291   29.9 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   09 50 56.0   +15 52 23     2.585    2.358   65.7   22.6   291   29.9 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   09 52 02.7   +15 47 31     2.576    2.362   66.5   22.7   291   29.9 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   09 53 08.4   +15 42 43     2.568    2.367   67.2   22.8   291   29.9 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   09 54 13.3   +15 37 59     2.559    2.371   67.9   22.9   291   29.9 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   09 55 17.2   +15 33 19     2.550    2.376   68.6   22.9   291   29.9 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   09 56 20.1   +15 28 43     2.542    2.381   69.4   23.0   291   29.9 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   09 57 22.1   +15 24 12     2.533    2.385   70.1   23.1   291   29.9 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   09 58 23.1   +15 19 46     2.524    2.390   70.8   23.1   291   29.9 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   09 59 23.1   +15 15 25     2.514    2.394   71.6   23.2   291   29.9 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   10 00 22.1   +15 11 08     2.505    2.399   72.3   23.2   291   29.9 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   10 01 20.1   +15 06 56     2.496    2.403   73.1   23.3   291   29.9 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   10 02 17.0   +15 02 50     2.486    2.407   73.9   23.3   291   29.9 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   10 03 13.0   +14 58 49     2.477    2.412   74.6   23.4   291   29.9 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   10 04 07.8   +14 54 53     2.467    2.416   75.4   23.4   291   29.9 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   10 05 01.6   +14 51 03     2.458    2.420   76.2   23.4   291   29.9 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   10 05 54.4   +14 47 19     2.448    2.425   77.0   23.5   291   29.9 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   10 06 46.0   +14 43 40     2.438    2.429   77.7   23.5   291   29.9 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   10 07 36.5   +14 40 08     2.428    2.433   78.5   23.5   291   29.9 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   10 08 25.8   +14 36 41     2.418    2.438   79.3   23.5   291   29.9 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   10 09 14.1   +14 33 21     2.408    2.442   80.1   23.5   291   29.9 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   10 10 01.1   +14 30 07     2.398    2.446   80.9   23.6   291   29.9 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   10 10 47.0   +14 27 00     2.388    2.450   81.8   23.6   291   29.9 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   10 11 31.7   +14 23 59     2.377    2.454   82.6   23.6   291   29.9 

    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.