2018 VP1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jan 2026	35.6	2.340 AU	2.186 AU	13h47m	-08°53'	86.4°	24.8°

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
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   13 47 09.1   -08 53 49     2.186    2.340   86.4   24.8   291   35.6 
2026-01-15 04:34 UT   13 47 19.4   -08 54 45     2.183    2.340   86.6   24.8   291   35.6 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   13 48 03.0   -08 58 41     2.171    2.339   87.2   24.8   291   35.6 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   13 48 56.0   -09 03 26     2.156    2.339   88.0   24.9   291   35.6 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   13 49 48.0   -09 08 06     2.142    2.338   88.8   24.9   291   35.5 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   13 50 39.0   -09 12 38     2.127    2.337   89.6   24.9   291   35.5 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   13 51 29.0   -09 17 05     2.112    2.336   90.4   24.9   291   35.5 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   13 52 17.9   -09 21 25     2.098    2.335   91.2   24.9   291   35.5 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   13 53 05.7   -09 25 38     2.083    2.334   92.0   24.9   290   35.5 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   13 53 52.5   -09 29 45     2.068    2.333   92.8   24.9   290   35.5 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   13 54 38.1   -09 33 44     2.053    2.332   93.6   24.9   290   35.5 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   13 55 22.6   -09 37 37     2.039    2.332   94.4   24.9   290   35.4 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   13 56 06.0   -09 41 24     2.024    2.331   95.3   24.9   290   35.4 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   13 56 48.2   -09 45 03     2.009    2.330   96.1   24.9   290   35.4 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   13 57 29.2   -09 48 35     1.994    2.328   96.9   24.8   290   35.4 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   13 58 08.9   -09 52 00     1.980    2.327   97.8   24.8   290   35.4 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   13 58 47.4   -09 55 18     1.965    2.326   98.6   24.7   290   35.3 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   13 59 24.6   -09 58 29     1.950    2.325   99.5   24.7   290   35.3 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   14 00 00.6   -10 01 32     1.936    2.324  100.3   24.6   290   35.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   14 00 35.2   -10 04 28     1.921    2.323  101.2   24.6   290   35.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   14 01 08.5   -10 07 17     1.906    2.322  102.1   24.5   290   35.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   14 01 40.4   -10 09 58     1.892    2.321  102.9   24.5   290   35.2 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   14 02 10.8   -10 12 31     1.877    2.319  103.8   24.4   290   35.2 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   14 02 39.9   -10 14 56     1.862    2.318  104.7   24.3   289   35.2 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   14 03 07.4   -10 17 13     1.848    2.317  105.6   24.2   289   35.2 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   14 03 33.5   -10 19 22     1.833    2.316  106.5   24.1   289   35.2 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   14 03 58.1   -10 21 23     1.819    2.314  107.4   24.0   289   35.1 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   14 04 21.1   -10 23 16     1.805    2.313  108.3   23.9   289   35.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   14 04 42.4   -10 25 00     1.790    2.312  109.2   23.8   289   35.1 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   14 05 02.2   -10 26 36     1.776    2.310  110.2   23.6   289   35.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   14 05 20.3   -10 28 03     1.762    2.309  111.1   23.5   289   35.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   14 05 36.8   -10 29 21     1.747    2.307  112.0   23.4   289   35.0 

    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.