2018 VP1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Apr 2026	33.4	2.199 AU	1.203 AU	13h33m	-07°45'	172.1°	3.6°

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
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   13 33 26.4   -07 45 29     1.203    2.199  172.1    3.6   278   33.4 
2026-04-07 11:47 UT   13 32 43.9   -07 41 54     1.201    2.198  172.8    3.3   277   33.3 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   13 31 59.6   -07 38 10     1.199    2.196  173.4    3.0   275   33.3 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   13 30 31.9   -07 30 47     1.195    2.194  174.7    2.4   271   33.3 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   13 29 03.3   -07 23 18     1.191    2.191  176.0    1.8   265   33.2 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   13 27 33.9   -07 15 46     1.187    2.188  177.2    1.3   253   33.2 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   13 26 03.9   -07 08 11     1.183    2.185  178.1    0.9   227   33.1 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   13 24 33.4   -07 00 33     1.180    2.182  178.2    0.8   184   33.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   13 23 02.4   -06 52 53     1.177    2.180  177.4    1.2   153   33.1 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   13 21 31.0   -06 45 11     1.175    2.177  176.3    1.7   139   33.2 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   13 19 59.5   -06 37 29     1.172    2.174  175.0    2.3   132   33.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   13 18 27.9   -06 29 47     1.170    2.171  173.7    2.9   127   33.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   13 16 56.3   -06 22 05     1.169    2.168  172.4    3.5   124   33.3 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   13 15 24.8   -06 14 24     1.167    2.165  171.0    4.1   122   33.3 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   13 13 53.6   -06 06 46     1.166    2.162  169.7    4.8   121   33.3 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   13 12 22.8   -05 59 10     1.165    2.159  168.3    5.4   120   33.3 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   13 10 52.5   -05 51 38     1.165    2.156  167.0    6.0   119   33.4 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   13 09 22.8   -05 44 09     1.164    2.153  165.6    6.7   118   33.4 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   13 07 53.8   -05 36 45     1.164    2.149  164.3    7.3   118   33.4 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   13 06 25.6   -05 29 27     1.164    2.146  162.9    7.9   117   33.4 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   13 04 58.3   -05 22 14     1.165    2.143  161.6    8.5   117   33.5 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   13 03 32.1   -05 15 07     1.166    2.140  160.2    9.2   116   33.5 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   13 02 06.9   -05 08 08     1.167    2.137  158.9    9.8   116   33.5 

    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.