2022 WK1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Jul 2026	28.5	2.357 AU	1.522 AU	23h09m	-18°40'	135.6°	17.6°

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 WK1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4830123
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6725014
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.89167
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 60.92891
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 63.57154
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 116.51273
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.28253
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.06247
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.16            
        

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
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   23 09 14.2   -18 40 45     1.522    2.357  135.6   17.6   259   28.5 
2026-07-21 05:14 UT   23 09 08.7   -18 42 30     1.519    2.356  135.8   17.5   259   28.5 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   23 08 48.2   -18 48 51     1.511    2.355  136.6   17.2   260   28.5 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   23 08 20.0   -18 57 08     1.500    2.352  137.6   16.9   261   28.4 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   23 07 49.6   -19 05 36     1.489    2.350  138.7   16.6   261   28.4 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   23 07 17.1   -19 14 14     1.478    2.347  139.7   16.2   262   28.4 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   23 06 42.4   -19 23 03     1.468    2.345  140.8   15.9   263   28.3 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   23 06 05.5   -19 32 02     1.458    2.342  141.8   15.5   263   28.3 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   23 05 26.4   -19 41 10     1.448    2.339  142.9   15.2   264   28.3 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   23 04 45.1   -19 50 28     1.438    2.337  144.0   14.8   265   28.2 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   23 04 01.6   -19 59 55     1.429    2.334  145.0   14.4   266   28.2 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   23 03 15.9   -20 09 30     1.419    2.332  146.1   14.1   267   28.2 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   23 02 27.9   -20 19 13     1.410    2.329  147.2   13.7   268   28.2 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   23 01 37.8   -20 29 03     1.401    2.326  148.2   13.3   269   28.1 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   23 00 45.4   -20 39 01     1.392    2.323  149.3   12.9   270   28.1 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   22 59 50.8   -20 49 05     1.384    2.321  150.4   12.5   271   28.1 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   22 58 54.1   -20 59 15     1.376    2.318  151.4   12.1   273   28.0 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   22 57 55.1   -21 09 30     1.368    2.315  152.5   11.7   274   28.0 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   22 56 54.0   -21 19 50     1.360    2.312  153.5   11.3   276   28.0 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   22 55 50.8   -21 30 14     1.352    2.309  154.5   10.9   277   27.9 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 54 45.4   -21 40 42     1.345    2.307  155.6   10.5   279   27.9 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   22 53 38.0   -21 51 12     1.338    2.304  156.6   10.1   281   27.9 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   22 52 28.6   -22 01 43     1.331    2.301  157.6    9.7   283   27.9 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   22 51 17.1   -22 12 16     1.325    2.298  158.5    9.3   285   27.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   22 50 03.8   -22 22 49     1.318    2.295  159.5    8.9   288   27.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   22 48 48.5   -22 33 21     1.312    2.292  160.4    8.5   291   27.8 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   22 47 31.5   -22 43 51     1.306    2.289  161.2    8.2   294   27.7 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   22 46 12.6   -22 54 19     1.301    2.286  162.0    7.8   297   27.7 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   22 44 52.1   -23 04 44     1.296    2.283  162.8    7.5   301   27.7 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   22 43 30.0   -23 15 05     1.291    2.280  163.5    7.2   305   27.7 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   22 42 06.3   -23 25 20     1.286    2.276  164.1    7.0   309   27.6 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   22 40 41.2   -23 35 30     1.282    2.273  164.7    6.8   314   27.6 

    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.