2018 VP1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Mar 2026	34.4	2.270 AU	1.459 AU	14h03m	-10°17'	134.7°	18.1°

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 VP1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4418115
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6309442
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.16524
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 39.73477
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 317.08970
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 168.69291
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -3.13191
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.15447
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.08            
        

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
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   14 03 35.7   -10 17 39     1.459    2.270  134.7   18.1   288   34.4 
2026-03-08 07:47 UT   14 03 26.3   -10 16 52     1.455    2.269  135.0   18.0   288   34.4 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   14 03 06.1   -10 15 08     1.448    2.268  135.8   17.8   288   34.4 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   14 02 34.2   -10 12 26     1.436    2.266  136.9   17.4   288   34.4 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   14 02 00.1   -10 09 33     1.425    2.263  138.1   17.0   288   34.3 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   14 01 23.8   -10 06 29     1.414    2.261  139.2   16.7   288   34.3 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   14 00 45.1   -10 03 13     1.403    2.259  140.4   16.3   288   34.3 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   14 00 04.2   -09 59 46     1.392    2.257  141.6   15.9   288   34.3 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   13 59 21.1   -09 56 08     1.382    2.255  142.8   15.5   287   34.2 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   13 58 35.6   -09 52 19     1.371    2.253  143.9   15.1   287   34.2 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   13 57 47.9   -09 48 18     1.361    2.251  145.1   14.6   287   34.2 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   13 56 58.0   -09 44 07     1.351    2.249  146.4   14.2   287   34.1 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   13 56 05.9   -09 39 44     1.342    2.246  147.6   13.7   287   34.1 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   13 55 11.5   -09 35 10     1.332    2.244  148.8   13.3   287   34.1 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   13 54 15.0   -09 30 26     1.323    2.242  150.0   12.8   287   34.0 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   13 53 16.3   -09 25 30     1.314    2.239  151.3   12.3   287   34.0 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   13 52 15.6   -09 20 25     1.305    2.237  152.5   11.9   287   33.9 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   13 51 12.7   -09 15 08     1.297    2.235  153.8   11.4   286   33.9 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   13 50 07.9   -09 09 42     1.288    2.232  155.1   10.9   286   33.9 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   13 49 01.0   -09 04 05     1.280    2.230  156.4   10.3   286   33.8 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   13 47 52.3   -08 58 19     1.272    2.227  157.6    9.8   286   33.8 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   13 46 41.7   -08 52 23     1.265    2.225  158.9    9.3   286   33.8 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   13 45 29.2   -08 46 18     1.257    2.223  160.2    8.7   285   33.7 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   13 44 15.0   -08 40 04     1.250    2.220  161.5    8.2   285   33.7 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   13 42 59.1   -08 33 42     1.244    2.218  162.8    7.6   285   33.6 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   13 41 41.6   -08 27 11     1.237    2.215  164.2    7.1   284   33.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   13 40 22.5   -08 20 31     1.231    2.212  165.5    6.5   284   33.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   13 39 01.9   -08 13 45     1.225    2.210  166.8    5.9   283   33.5 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   13 37 39.9   -08 06 51     1.219    2.207  168.1    5.3   282   33.5 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   13 36 16.6   -07 59 50     1.214    2.205  169.5    4.8   281   33.4 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   13 34 52.1   -07 52 42     1.208    2.202  170.8    4.2   280   33.4 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   13 33 26.4   -07 45 29     1.203    2.199  172.1    3.6   278   33.4 

    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.