2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Aug 2026	27.5	3.858 AU	2.961 AU	00h03m	-04°01'	148.2°	7.9°

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 2003 WP21 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7811031
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2701766
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.30825
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 37.10088
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 124.67263
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 147.70422
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -18.15060
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.54209
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.42            
        

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
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   00 03 22.8   -04 01 44     2.961    3.858  148.2    7.9   253   27.5 
2026-08-21 08:17 UT   00 03 08.1   -04 03 30     2.957    3.857  148.6    7.9   253   27.5 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   00 02 39.8   -04 06 53     2.951    3.856  149.4    7.7   253   27.5 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   00 01 55.9   -04 12 06     2.941    3.853  150.5    7.4   254   27.5 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   00 01 11.0   -04 17 24     2.931    3.851  151.7    7.2   254   27.4 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   00 00 25.2   -04 22 47     2.921    3.848  152.8    6.9   254   27.4 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   23 59 38.6   -04 28 13     2.912    3.846  154.0    6.6   255   27.4 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   23 58 51.0   -04 33 44     2.903    3.844  155.2    6.3   255   27.4 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   23 58 02.6   -04 39 19     2.895    3.841  156.3    6.1   256   27.4 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   23 57 13.4   -04 44 58     2.886    3.839  157.5    5.8   256   27.3 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   23 56 23.4   -04 50 40     2.878    3.836  158.7    5.5   257   27.3 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   23 55 32.6   -04 56 26     2.870    3.834  159.8    5.2   258   27.3 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   23 54 41.0   -05 02 15     2.863    3.831  161.0    4.9   259   27.3 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   23 53 48.7   -05 08 06     2.856    3.829  162.2    4.6   259   27.2 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   23 52 55.8   -05 14 01     2.849    3.826  163.4    4.3   260   27.2 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   23 52 02.2   -05 19 58     2.842    3.824  164.5    4.0   262   27.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   23 51 07.9   -05 25 57     2.836    3.821  165.7    3.7   263   27.2 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   23 50 13.0   -05 31 57     2.830    3.819  166.9    3.4   264   27.2 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   23 49 17.6   -05 38 00     2.824    3.816  168.0    3.1   266   27.1 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   23 48 21.6   -05 44 04     2.819    3.813  169.2    2.8   269   27.1 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   23 47 25.2   -05 50 09     2.814    3.811  170.3    2.6   271   27.1 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   23 46 28.2   -05 56 15     2.809    3.808  171.4    2.3   275   27.1 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   23 45 30.9   -06 02 22     2.805    3.805  172.4    2.0   279   27.0 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   23 44 33.2   -06 08 28     2.801    3.803  173.4    1.7   285   27.0 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   23 43 35.1   -06 14 35     2.797    3.800  174.4    1.5   293   27.0 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   23 42 36.8   -06 20 42     2.794    3.797  175.1    1.3   304   27.0 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   23 41 38.2   -06 26 47     2.791    3.795  175.7    1.1   318   26.9 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   23 40 39.4   -06 32 52     2.788    3.792  175.9    1.1   334   26.9 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   23 39 40.4   -06 38 56     2.786    3.789  175.8    1.1   351   26.9 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 38 41.3   -06 44 58     2.784    3.786  175.3    1.2     6   26.9 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   23 37 42.1   -06 50 59     2.782    3.784  174.6    1.4    18   27.0 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   23 36 42.9   -06 56 57     2.781    3.781  173.7    1.7    26   27.0 

    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.