2003 WP21
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 May 2026	28.7	4.016 AU	4.501 AU	23h55m	-03°49'	55.5°	12.0°

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 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
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   23 55 08.7   -03 49 07     4.501    4.016   55.5   12.0   244   28.7 
2026-05-14 18:27 UT   23 55 39.2   -03 46 08     4.490    4.016   56.2   12.1   245   28.7 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   23 55 48.3   -03 45 15     4.487    4.015   56.3   12.1   245   28.7 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   23 56 27.4   -03 41 26     4.472    4.014   57.1   12.2   245   28.7 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   23 57 06.2   -03 37 40     4.458    4.014   57.9   12.3   245   28.7 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   23 57 44.4   -03 33 57     4.444    4.013   58.7   12.4   245   28.6 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   23 58 22.3   -03 30 18     4.429    4.012   59.5   12.5   245   28.6 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   23 58 59.7   -03 26 42     4.415    4.011   60.3   12.7   245   28.6 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   23 59 36.6   -03 23 10     4.400    4.010   61.1   12.8   245   28.6 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   00 00 13.1   -03 19 41     4.385    4.009   61.9   12.9   245   28.6 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   00 00 49.1   -03 16 16     4.370    4.008   62.7   13.0   245   28.6 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   00 01 24.6   -03 12 54     4.355    4.007   63.5   13.1   245   28.6 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   00 01 59.6   -03 09 36     4.340    4.006   64.3   13.2   245   28.6 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   00 02 34.1   -03 06 21     4.324    4.005   65.1   13.3   245   28.6 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   00 03 08.2   -03 03 11     4.309    4.004   65.9   13.4   245   28.6 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   00 03 41.7   -03 00 04     4.293    4.003   66.7   13.4   245   28.6 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   00 04 14.7   -02 57 00     4.278    4.001   67.5   13.5   245   28.6 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   00 04 47.2   -02 54 01     4.262    4.000   68.3   13.6   245   28.6 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   00 05 19.1   -02 51 06     4.246    3.999   69.2   13.7   245   28.6 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   00 05 50.5   -02 48 14     4.230    3.998   70.0   13.8   245   28.6 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   00 06 21.3   -02 45 27     4.214    3.997   70.8   13.9   245   28.6 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   00 06 51.6   -02 42 44     4.198    3.996   71.6   13.9   245   28.6 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   00 07 21.4   -02 40 05     4.182    3.995   72.4   14.0   246   28.6 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   00 07 50.5   -02 37 30     4.165    3.993   73.3   14.1   246   28.6 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   00 08 19.1   -02 34 59     4.149    3.992   74.1   14.1   246   28.5 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   00 08 47.0   -02 32 33     4.133    3.991   74.9   14.2   246   28.5 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   00 09 14.4   -02 30 11     4.116    3.990   75.8   14.3   246   28.5 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   00 09 41.1   -02 27 54     4.099    3.989   76.6   14.3   246   28.5 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   00 10 07.2   -02 25 41     4.083    3.987   77.5   14.4   246   28.5 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   00 10 32.7   -02 23 33     4.066    3.986   78.3   14.4   246   28.5 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   00 10 57.5   -02 21 29     4.049    3.985   79.1   14.5   246   28.5 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   00 11 21.7   -02 19 30     4.032    3.983   80.0   14.5   246   28.5 

    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.