2020 RA4
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Jan 2026	33.0	3.627 AU	3.431 AU	12h56m	-07°28'	93.5°	15.7°

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 2020 RA4 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5578840
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3287101
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.80770
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 352.66060
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 8.83015
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 162.46033
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 1.36369
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.49837
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.55            
        

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
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   12 56 13.0   -07 28 59     3.431    3.627   93.5   15.7   293   33.0 
2026-01-10 08:59 UT   12 56 18.5   -07 30 08     3.425    3.627   93.9   15.7   293   33.0 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   12 56 27.5   -07 32 01     3.415    3.627   94.5   15.7   293   33.0 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   12 56 41.1   -07 34 57     3.399    3.627   95.4   15.7   293   33.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   12 56 53.7   -07 37 48     3.384    3.627   96.4   15.6   293   33.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   12 57 05.2   -07 40 33     3.368    3.627   97.3   15.6   293   33.0 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   12 57 15.8   -07 43 13     3.352    3.627   98.3   15.6   293   33.0 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   12 57 25.2   -07 45 47     3.337    3.628   99.3   15.5   293   33.0 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   12 57 33.7   -07 48 15     3.321    3.628  100.2   15.5   293   33.0 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   12 57 41.0   -07 50 38     3.306    3.628  101.2   15.4   293   32.9 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   12 57 47.3   -07 52 54     3.290    3.628  102.2   15.4   293   32.9 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   12 57 52.5   -07 55 05     3.275    3.628  103.2   15.3   293   32.9 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   12 57 56.7   -07 57 09     3.259    3.628  104.2   15.2   293   32.9 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   12 57 59.7   -07 59 07     3.244    3.628  105.2   15.2   293   32.9 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   12 58 01.5   -08 00 60     3.229    3.628  106.2   15.1   293   32.9 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   12 58 02.3   -08 02 46     3.213    3.628  107.2   15.0   293   32.9 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   12 58 01.9   -08 04 25     3.198    3.628  108.2   14.9   293   32.9 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   12 58 00.4   -08 05 59     3.183    3.628  109.2   14.9   293   32.8 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   12 57 57.7   -08 07 26     3.168    3.628  110.2   14.8   293   32.8 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   12 57 53.9   -08 08 47     3.153    3.628  111.2   14.7   293   32.8 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   12 57 48.9   -08 10 01     3.138    3.628  112.2   14.6   293   32.8 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   12 57 42.7   -08 11 09     3.124    3.628  113.3   14.4   293   32.8 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   12 57 35.4   -08 12 10     3.109    3.627  114.3   14.3   294   32.8 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   12 57 26.8   -08 13 04     3.095    3.627  115.4   14.2   294   32.8 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   12 57 17.1   -08 13 52     3.080    3.627  116.4   14.1   294   32.7 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   12 57 06.2   -08 14 33     3.066    3.627  117.4   14.0   294   32.7 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   12 56 54.1   -08 15 08     3.052    3.627  118.5   13.8   294   32.7 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   12 56 40.8   -08 15 35     3.038    3.627  119.6   13.7   294   32.7 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   12 56 26.2   -08 15 56     3.024    3.627  120.6   13.5   294   32.7 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   12 56 10.5   -08 16 09     3.010    3.626  121.7   13.4   294   32.7 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   12 55 53.5   -08 16 16     2.996    3.626  122.8   13.2   294   32.7 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   12 55 35.3   -08 16 15     2.983    3.626  123.9   13.1   294   32.6 

    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.