(458732) 2011 MD5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Jan 2026	24.7	3.919 AU	4.272 AU	15h42m	-11°45'	62.6°	12.9°

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 2011 MD5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6024873
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4853803
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.54946
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 170.31557
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 224.91507
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 191.95004
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 214.74231
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -7.42730
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.92            
        

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
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   15 42 49.5   -11 45 41     4.272    3.919   62.6   12.9   287   24.7 
2026-01-19 03:19 UT   15 42 55.9   -11 45 45     4.270    3.919   62.8   12.9   287   24.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   15 43 35.3   -11 46 12     4.257    3.918   63.5   13.0   287   24.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   15 44 20.7   -11 46 38     4.241    3.916   64.3   13.1   287   24.7 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   15 45 05.5   -11 47 01     4.226    3.915   65.1   13.2   287   24.7 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   15 45 49.7   -11 47 20     4.210    3.914   66.0   13.3   286   24.7 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   15 46 33.4   -11 47 35     4.195    3.913   66.8   13.4   286   24.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   15 47 16.5   -11 47 45     4.179    3.911   67.6   13.5   286   24.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   15 47 59.1   -11 47 51     4.163    3.910   68.5   13.5   286   24.6 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   15 48 41.1   -11 47 54     4.147    3.909   69.3   13.6   286   24.6 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   15 49 22.4   -11 47 52     4.131    3.907   70.1   13.7   285   24.6 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   15 50 03.2   -11 47 46     4.114    3.906   71.0   13.8   285   24.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   15 50 43.4   -11 47 36     4.098    3.905   71.8   13.9   285   24.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   15 51 22.9   -11 47 21     4.082    3.904   72.7   13.9   285   24.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   15 52 01.8   -11 47 03     4.065    3.902   73.5   14.0   285   24.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   15 52 40.1   -11 46 40     4.049    3.901   74.4   14.1   285   24.6 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   15 53 17.7   -11 46 14     4.032    3.899   75.3   14.1   284   24.6 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   15 53 54.6   -11 45 42     4.015    3.898   76.1   14.2   284   24.6 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   15 54 30.8   -11 45 07     3.999    3.897   77.0   14.3   284   24.6 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   15 55 06.4   -11 44 28     3.982    3.895   77.8   14.3   284   24.6 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   15 55 41.3   -11 43 44     3.965    3.894   78.7   14.4   284   24.6 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   15 56 15.4   -11 42 56     3.948    3.892   79.6   14.4   284   24.6 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   15 56 48.8   -11 42 04     3.931    3.891   80.4   14.5   283   24.5 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   15 57 21.5   -11 41 07     3.914    3.890   81.3   14.5   283   24.5 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   15 57 53.4   -11 40 06     3.897    3.888   82.2   14.6   283   24.5 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   15 58 24.6   -11 39 01     3.880    3.887   83.1   14.6   283   24.5 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   15 58 54.9   -11 37 52     3.863    3.885   84.0   14.6   283   24.5 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   15 59 24.5   -11 36 38     3.846    3.884   84.8   14.7   282   24.5 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   15 59 53.3   -11 35 20     3.829    3.882   85.7   14.7   282   24.5 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   16 00 21.2   -11 33 57     3.811    3.881   86.6   14.7   282   24.5 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   16 00 48.4   -11 32 31     3.794    3.879   87.5   14.7   282   24.5 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   16 01 14.6   -11 30 60     3.777    3.877   88.4   14.8   282   24.5 

    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.