2018 VP1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Aug 2026	34.6	1.604 AU	1.808 AU	13h44m	-12°00'	62.0°	33.8°

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 2018 VP1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4418115
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6309442
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.16524
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 39.73477
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 317.08970
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 168.69291
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -3.13191
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.15447
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.08            
        

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
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   13 44 50.8   -12 00 18     1.808    1.604   62.0   33.8   111   34.6 
2026-08-20 20:14 UT   13 46 21.9   -12 09 33     1.811    1.599   61.6   33.8   111   34.6 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   13 46 38.9   -12 11 16     1.811    1.598   61.5   33.8   111   34.6 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   13 48 28.3   -12 22 17     1.814    1.592   61.0   33.8   111   34.6 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   13 50 18.8   -12 33 21     1.817    1.586   60.5   33.7   111   34.6 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   13 52 10.4   -12 44 28     1.819    1.580   60.1   33.7   111   34.6 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   13 54 03.2   -12 55 38     1.822    1.574   59.6   33.6   111   34.6 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   13 55 57.2   -13 06 50     1.824    1.568   59.1   33.6   111   34.6 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   13 57 52.4   -13 18 04     1.827    1.562   58.7   33.6   111   34.6 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   13 59 48.8   -13 29 21     1.829    1.555   58.2   33.5   111   34.6 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   14 01 46.3   -13 40 40     1.831    1.549   57.8   33.5   111   34.6 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   14 03 45.1   -13 52 00     1.833    1.543   57.3   33.4   111   34.6 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   14 05 45.0   -14 03 23     1.835    1.537   56.9   33.4   111   34.5 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   14 07 46.1   -14 14 48     1.837    1.530   56.4   33.3   111   34.5 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   14 09 48.5   -14 26 14     1.839    1.524   56.0   33.3   110   34.5 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   14 11 52.1   -14 37 42     1.840    1.518   55.6   33.2   110   34.5 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   14 13 57.0   -14 49 11     1.842    1.512   55.1   33.2   110   34.5 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   14 16 03.0   -15 00 41     1.843    1.505   54.7   33.1   110   34.5 

    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.