2018 XF2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Jan 2026	31.9	2.745 AU	3.587 AU	18h46m	-22°46'	26.9°	9.3°

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 XF2 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6176160
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4978747
            i (Inclination)                 : 0.97449
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 254.01283
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 152.50573
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 278.72305
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 226.52195
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.44987
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.95            
        

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
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   18 46 52.4   -22 46 37     3.587    2.745   26.9    9.3   266   31.9 
2026-01-28 10:45 UT   18 47 37.5   -22 45 43     3.582    2.743   27.2    9.4   266   31.9 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   18 48 33.1   -22 44 34     3.575    2.739   27.5    9.6   266   31.9 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   18 50 13.8   -22 42 27     3.562    2.733   28.2    9.8   265   31.9 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   18 51 54.7   -22 40 15     3.549    2.727   28.8   10.0   265   31.9 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   18 53 35.6   -22 37 59     3.536    2.721   29.4   10.2   265   31.9 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   18 55 16.6   -22 35 39     3.523    2.715   30.0   10.5   265   31.9 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   18 56 57.8   -22 33 15     3.510    2.709   30.7   10.7   265   31.9 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   18 58 39.0   -22 30 46     3.496    2.703   31.3   10.9   265   31.9 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   19 00 20.3   -22 28 13     3.483    2.696   31.9   11.1   264   31.9 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   19 02 01.7   -22 25 36     3.469    2.690   32.5   11.4   264   31.9 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   19 03 43.1   -22 22 54     3.455    2.684   33.1   11.6   264   31.8 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   19 05 24.7   -22 20 08     3.441    2.678   33.8   11.8   264   31.8 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   19 07 06.3   -22 17 18     3.427    2.672   34.4   12.0   264   31.8 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   19 08 48.0   -22 14 23     3.413    2.665   35.0   12.3   264   31.8 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   19 10 29.8   -22 11 24     3.399    2.659   35.6   12.5   263   31.8 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   19 12 11.6   -22 08 21     3.384    2.653   36.2   12.7   263   31.8 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   19 13 53.5   -22 05 13     3.370    2.646   36.8   12.9   263   31.8 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   19 15 35.4   -22 02 01     3.355    2.640   37.5   13.1   263   31.8 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   19 17 17.4   -21 58 45     3.340    2.634   38.1   13.4   263   31.8 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   19 18 59.5   -21 55 25     3.325    2.627   38.7   13.6   263   31.8 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   19 20 41.5   -21 51 60     3.310    2.621   39.3   13.8   262   31.8 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   19 22 23.7   -21 48 30     3.295    2.615   39.9   14.0   262   31.8 

    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.