2018 XF2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Mar 2026	31.5	2.456 AU	2.900 AU	20h03m	-20°03'	54.3°	19.2°

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 XF2 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6176160
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4978747
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.97449
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 254.01283
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 152.50573
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 278.72305
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 226.52195
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.44987
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.95            
        

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
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   20 03 21.7   -20 03 13     2.900    2.456   54.3   19.2   258   31.5 
2026-03-14 12:20 UT   20 04 14.5   -20 00 30     2.891    2.452   54.6   19.3   258   31.5 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   20 05 04.3   -19 57 55     2.883    2.449   54.8   19.4   258   31.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   20 06 46.9   -19 52 34     2.865    2.442   55.4   19.6   258   31.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   20 08 29.5   -19 47 08     2.847    2.435   56.0   19.8   258   31.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   20 10 12.0   -19 41 38     2.830    2.428   56.6   20.0   258   31.5 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   20 11 54.6   -19 36 04     2.812    2.421   57.2   20.2   258   31.5 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   20 13 37.2   -19 30 26     2.794    2.415   57.8   20.4   258   31.5 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   20 15 19.7   -19 24 43     2.776    2.408   58.3   20.6   257   31.4 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   20 17 02.2   -19 18 56     2.758    2.401   58.9   20.8   257   31.4 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   20 18 44.7   -19 13 05     2.740    2.394   59.5   21.0   257   31.4 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   20 20 27.2   -19 07 10     2.722    2.387   60.1   21.2   257   31.4 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   20 22 09.7   -19 01 11     2.704    2.380   60.7   21.4   257   31.4 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   20 23 52.2   -18 55 07     2.686    2.373   61.2   21.6   257   31.4 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   20 25 34.6   -18 48 59     2.668    2.365   61.8   21.8   257   31.4 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   20 27 17.1   -18 42 48     2.649    2.358   62.4   22.0   256   31.3 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   20 28 59.6   -18 36 31     2.631    2.351   62.9   22.2   256   31.3 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   20 30 42.0   -18 30 11     2.613    2.344   63.5   22.4   256   31.3 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   20 32 24.5   -18 23 46     2.594    2.337   64.1   22.6   256   31.3 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   20 34 06.9   -18 17 18     2.576    2.330   64.7   22.8   256   31.3 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   20 35 49.3   -18 10 45     2.557    2.323   65.2   23.0   256   31.3 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   20 37 31.8   -18 04 08     2.539    2.316   65.8   23.2   256   31.2 

    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.