2021 QM1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 Jan 2026	28.8	1.948 AU	2.697 AU	16h43m	-21°23'	33.0°	16.0°

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 2021 QM1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6724217
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.5288945
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.75952
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 192.78946
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 255.56751
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 54.88824
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 268.35045
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -1.70398
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 1.89            
        

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
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   16 43 40.0   -21 23 47     2.697    1.948   33.0   16.0   279   28.8 
2026-01-06 23:08 UT   16 45 27.7   -21 26 37     2.696    1.954   33.6   16.2   279   28.8 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   16 45 31.7   -21 26 44     2.696    1.955   33.6   16.2   279   28.8 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   16 47 22.8   -21 29 34     2.695    1.961   34.2   16.4   278   28.8 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   16 49 13.2   -21 32 18     2.694    1.968   34.8   16.6   278   28.8 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   16 51 03.1   -21 34 56     2.692    1.974   35.4   16.8   278   28.8 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   16 52 52.2   -21 37 29     2.690    1.981   36.0   17.0   278   28.8 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   16 54 40.7   -21 39 55     2.689    1.987   36.6   17.2   278   28.8 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   16 56 28.6   -21 42 15     2.687    1.994   37.2   17.3   277   28.8 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   16 58 15.8   -21 44 30     2.685    2.000   37.8   17.5   277   28.9 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   17 00 02.3   -21 46 39     2.682    2.006   38.4   17.7   277   28.9 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   17 01 48.2   -21 48 43     2.680    2.013   39.0   17.9   277   28.9 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   17 03 33.4   -21 50 41     2.677    2.019   39.6   18.1   277   28.9 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   17 05 17.9   -21 52 33     2.674    2.025   40.2   18.3   277   28.9 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   17 07 01.7   -21 54 20     2.671    2.031   40.8   18.5   276   28.9 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   17 08 44.8   -21 56 02     2.668    2.038   41.4   18.6   276   28.9 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   17 10 27.1   -21 57 38     2.665    2.044   42.1   18.8   276   28.9 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   17 12 08.8   -21 59 10     2.661    2.050   42.7   19.0   276   28.9 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   17 13 49.8   -22 00 36     2.658    2.056   43.3   19.2   276   29.0 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 15 30.0   -22 01 57     2.654    2.062   43.9   19.4   275   29.0 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 17 09.5   -22 03 13     2.650    2.067   44.6   19.5   275   29.0 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 18 48.2   -22 04 25     2.645    2.073   45.2   19.7   275   29.0 

    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.