2018 XF2
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 Apr 2026	31.1	2.243 AU	2.352 AU	20h54m	-16°54'	71.4°	25.1°

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
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   20 54 36.8   -16 54 03     2.352    2.243   71.4   25.1   254   31.1 
2026-04-13 15:50 UT   20 55 44.5   -16 49 11     2.339    2.238   71.7   25.2   254   31.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   20 56 19.4   -16 46 39     2.333    2.235   71.9   25.2   254   31.0 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   20 58 01.9   -16 39 12     2.314    2.228   72.5   25.4   254   31.0 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   20 59 44.5   -16 31 40     2.295    2.220   73.0   25.6   254   31.0 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   21 01 27.1   -16 24 03     2.276    2.213   73.6   25.8   254   31.0 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   21 03 09.7   -16 16 23     2.257    2.205   74.1   26.0   254   31.0 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   21 04 52.4   -16 08 39     2.238    2.198   74.7   26.1   253   30.9 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   21 06 35.0   -16 00 50     2.220    2.190   75.2   26.3   253   30.9 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   21 08 17.7   -15 52 57     2.201    2.183   75.8   26.5   253   30.9 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   21 10 00.3   -15 45 00     2.182    2.175   76.3   26.7   253   30.9 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   21 11 43.1   -15 36 59     2.163    2.168   76.9   26.8   253   30.9 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   21 13 25.8   -15 28 53     2.144    2.160   77.4   27.0   253   30.8 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   21 15 08.6   -15 20 44     2.125    2.153   77.9   27.2   253   30.8 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   21 16 51.5   -15 12 30     2.106    2.145   78.5   27.4   253   30.8 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   21 18 34.4   -15 04 11     2.087    2.137   79.0   27.5   252   30.8 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   21 20 17.3   -14 55 49     2.068    2.130   79.5   27.7   252   30.8 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   21 22 00.3   -14 47 22     2.050    2.122   80.1   27.9   252   30.7 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   21 23 43.4   -14 38 51     2.031    2.114   80.6   28.0   252   30.7 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   21 25 26.6   -14 30 15     2.012    2.107   81.1   28.2   252   30.7 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   21 27 09.9   -14 21 35     1.993    2.099   81.7   28.4   252   30.7 

    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.