2020 RD5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Jan 2026	29.4	2.472 AU	2.966 AU	17h04m	-17°06'	51.3°	18.1°

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 RD5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5933097
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.7158656
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.60870
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 174.89856
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 265.75080
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 85.40460
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 260.61176
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.58766
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.25            
        

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
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   17 04 24.1   -17 06 53     2.966    2.472   51.3   18.1   280   29.4 
2026-01-28 11:27 UT   17 05 03.4   -17 06 53     2.962    2.474   51.6   18.2   280   29.4 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 05 46.3   -17 06 51     2.958    2.476   52.0   18.3   280   29.4 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 07 07.8   -17 06 44     2.950    2.479   52.6   18.4   280   29.4 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 08 28.6   -17 06 32     2.942    2.483   53.3   18.6   279   29.4 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 09 48.8   -17 06 15     2.934    2.486   54.0   18.7   279   29.4 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 11 08.4   -17 05 54     2.926    2.490   54.7   18.8   279   29.4 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 12 27.2   -17 05 29     2.917    2.493   55.4   19.0   279   29.4 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 13 45.4   -17 04 58     2.908    2.497   56.1   19.1   279   29.4 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   17 15 02.8   -17 04 23     2.900    2.500   56.8   19.3   278   29.4 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   17 16 19.6   -17 03 44     2.891    2.504   57.5   19.4   278   29.4 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   17 17 35.6   -17 02 60     2.882    2.507   58.2   19.5   278   29.4 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   17 18 51.0   -17 02 12     2.873    2.510   58.9   19.7   278   29.4 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   17 20 05.5   -17 01 19     2.864    2.514   59.7   19.8   278   29.4 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   17 21 19.3   -17 00 22     2.854    2.517   60.4   19.9   277   29.4 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   17 22 32.4   -16 59 20     2.845    2.520   61.1   20.0   277   29.4 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   17 23 44.7   -16 58 14     2.835    2.523   61.8   20.2   277   29.4 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   17 24 56.2   -16 57 04     2.825    2.527   62.5   20.3   277   29.4 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   17 26 06.8   -16 55 50     2.816    2.530   63.3   20.4   277   29.4 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   17 27 16.7   -16 54 32     2.806    2.533   64.0   20.5   276   29.4 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   17 28 25.7   -16 53 09     2.796    2.536   64.7   20.6   276   29.4 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   17 29 33.9   -16 51 42     2.785    2.539   65.4   20.7   276   29.4 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   17 30 41.2   -16 50 11     2.775    2.542   66.2   20.8   276   29.4 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   17 31 47.7   -16 48 37     2.765    2.545   66.9   20.9   276   29.4 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   17 32 53.3   -16 46 58     2.754    2.548   67.7   21.0   275   29.4 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   17 33 57.9   -16 45 15     2.744    2.551   68.4   21.1   275   29.4 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   17 35 01.7   -16 43 29     2.733    2.554   69.2   21.2   275   29.4 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   17 36 04.5   -16 41 38     2.722    2.557   69.9   21.3   275   29.4 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   17 37 06.4   -16 39 44     2.711    2.560   70.7   21.4   275   29.4 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   17 38 07.4   -16 37 46     2.700    2.563   71.4   21.5   274   29.3 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   17 39 07.4   -16 35 45     2.689    2.566   72.2   21.6   274   29.3 

    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.