2006 WM3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Dec 2025	28.4	2.322 AU	2.645 AU	22h00m	-14°01'	60.4°	21.6°

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 2006 WM3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5480628
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.9819909
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.01125
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 89.75580
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 36.54975
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 271.68952
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 126.28866
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.19758
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.79            
        

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
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   22 00 40.4   -14 01 04     2.645    2.322   60.4   21.6    71   28.4 
2025-12-19 20:14 UT   22 01 43.0   -13 55 05     2.650    2.317   59.8   21.5    71   28.4 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   22 01 54.7   -13 53 57     2.652    2.317   59.7   21.5    71   28.4 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   22 03 09.8   -13 46 45     2.658    2.311   59.0   21.4    71   28.4 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   22 04 25.6   -13 39 28     2.665    2.306   58.3   21.3    71   28.4 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   22 05 42.2   -13 32 05     2.671    2.300   57.6   21.2    71   28.4 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   22 06 59.5   -13 24 37     2.678    2.295   57.0   21.1    71   28.4 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   22 08 17.5   -13 17 03     2.684    2.289   56.3   20.9    71   28.4 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   22 09 36.3   -13 09 24     2.690    2.284   55.6   20.8    71   28.3 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   22 10 55.8   -13 01 39     2.696    2.278   54.9   20.7    70   28.3 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   22 12 16.0   -12 53 49     2.702    2.272   54.3   20.6    70   28.3 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   22 13 36.9   -12 45 54     2.707    2.267   53.6   20.4    70   28.3 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   22 14 58.4   -12 37 53     2.713    2.261   52.9   20.3    70   28.3 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   22 16 20.6   -12 29 47     2.718    2.255   52.3   20.2    70   28.3 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   22 17 43.5   -12 21 36     2.724    2.250   51.6   20.0    70   28.3 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   22 19 07.1   -12 13 20     2.729    2.244   51.0   19.9    70   28.3 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   22 20 31.3   -12 04 58     2.734    2.238   50.3   19.8    70   28.3 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   22 21 56.1   -11 56 31     2.739    2.232   49.7   19.6    70   28.3 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   22 23 21.6   -11 47 59     2.744    2.227   49.1   19.5    70   28.3 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   22 24 47.7   -11 39 22     2.748    2.221   48.4   19.3    70   28.3 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   22 26 14.4   -11 30 39     2.753    2.215   47.8   19.2    70   28.3 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   22 27 41.7   -11 21 52     2.757    2.209   47.1   19.0    70   28.3 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   22 29 09.7   -11 12 59     2.761    2.203   46.5   18.9    70   28.3 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   22 30 38.3   -11 04 01     2.765    2.197   45.9   18.7    70   28.3 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   22 32 07.5   -10 54 57     2.769    2.191   45.3   18.6    70   28.2 

    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.