2022 WD3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2026	30.0	2.088 AU	3.023 AU	19h50m	-33°42'	15.0°	7.0°

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 2022 WD3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3606052
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.5607704
            i (Inclination)                 : 24.13618
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 61.86997
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 35.77925
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 176.35305
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 95.20163
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.83184
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 1.95            
        

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
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   19 50 31.7   -33 42 18     3.023    2.088   15.0    7.0   203   30.0 
2026-01-22 13:48 UT   19 51 55.7   -33 40 51     3.021    2.087   15.1    7.1   204   30.0 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   19 52 57.8   -33 39 45     3.020    2.087   15.3    7.1   204   30.0 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   19 55 24.0   -33 37 06     3.017    2.085   15.6    7.3   206   30.0 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   19 57 50.1   -33 34 21     3.013    2.084   16.0    7.5   207   30.0 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   20 00 16.3   -33 31 29     3.009    2.083   16.3    7.6   208   30.0 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   20 02 42.4   -33 28 30     3.005    2.081   16.7    7.8   209   30.0 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   20 05 08.5   -33 25 25     3.001    2.080   17.0    8.0   210   30.0 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   20 07 34.7   -33 22 14     2.997    2.078   17.4    8.1   211   30.0 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   20 10 00.8   -33 18 56     2.993    2.077   17.8    8.3   212   30.0 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 12 26.9   -33 15 31     2.989    2.075   18.1    8.5   212   30.0 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 14 53.0   -33 12 01     2.984    2.074   18.5    8.7   213   30.1 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 17 19.0   -33 08 24     2.980    2.072   18.9    8.9   214   30.1 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 19 45.1   -33 04 40     2.975    2.071   19.3    9.1   215   30.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 22 11.1   -33 00 51     2.970    2.069   19.7    9.2   215   30.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   20 24 37.1   -32 56 55     2.965    2.068   20.1    9.4   216   30.1 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   20 27 03.1   -32 52 53     2.960    2.066   20.5    9.6   217   30.1 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   20 29 29.0   -32 48 45     2.955    2.064   20.9    9.8   217   30.1 

    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.