2018 VP1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Apr 2026	33.3	2.159 AU	1.165 AU	13h12m	-05°59'	168.3°	5.4°

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
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   13 12 22.8   -05 59 10     1.165    2.159  168.3    5.4   120   33.3 
2026-04-21 11:50 UT   13 11 38.2   -05 55 27     1.165    2.157  167.6    5.7   119   33.4 
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 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   13 00 43.0   -05 01 16     1.168    2.133  157.5   10.4   116   33.5 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   12 59 20.4   -04 54 32     1.169    2.130  156.2   11.0   116   33.6 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   12 57 59.1   -04 47 56     1.171    2.127  154.9   11.6   115   33.6 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   12 56 39.4   -04 41 30     1.173    2.124  153.6   12.2   115   33.6 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   12 55 21.1   -04 35 13     1.176    2.120  152.3   12.8   115   33.6 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   12 54 04.4   -04 29 05     1.178    2.117  151.0   13.4   115   33.7 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   12 52 49.5   -04 23 08     1.181    2.113  149.7   13.9   115   33.7 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   12 51 36.3   -04 17 22     1.184    2.110  148.4   14.5   115   33.7 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   12 50 24.9   -04 11 47     1.187    2.107  147.1   15.1   115   33.7 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   12 49 15.3   -04 06 23     1.190    2.103  145.8   15.6   114   33.7 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   12 48 07.7   -04 01 11     1.194    2.100  144.6   16.2   114   33.8 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   12 47 02.1   -03 56 11     1.198    2.096  143.3   16.7   114   33.8 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   12 45 58.5   -03 51 24     1.202    2.092  142.1   17.2   114   33.8 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   12 44 57.0   -03 46 49     1.206    2.089  140.9   17.8   114   33.8 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   12 43 57.7   -03 42 27     1.210    2.085  139.6   18.3   114   33.9 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   12 43 00.4   -03 38 19     1.215    2.082  138.4   18.8   114   33.9 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   12 42 05.4   -03 34 24     1.219    2.078  137.2   19.3   114   33.9 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   12 41 12.7   -03 30 42     1.224    2.074  136.0   19.8   114   33.9 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   12 40 22.1   -03 27 15     1.229    2.071  134.9   20.2   114   33.9 

    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.