2022 WK1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Jan 2026	29.6	2.399 AU	3.375 AU	19h32m	-25°57'	6.3°	2.6°

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 2022 WK1 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4830123
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.6725014
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.89167
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 60.92891
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 63.57154
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 116.51273
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.28253
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.06247
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.16            
        

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
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   19 32 28.6   -25 57 27     3.375    2.399    6.3    2.6   220   29.6 
2026-01-16 05:30 UT   19 32 54.9   -25 56 43     3.375    2.400    6.4    2.6   221   29.6 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   19 34 23.1   -25 54 15     3.375    2.401    6.8    2.8   223   29.6 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   19 36 17.3   -25 50 58     3.376    2.403    7.3    3.0   225   29.6 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   19 38 11.2   -25 47 38     3.376    2.405    7.8    3.2   228   29.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   19 40 04.8   -25 44 14     3.377    2.407    8.3    3.4   230   29.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   19 41 58.2   -25 40 46     3.377    2.409    8.8    3.6   231   29.7 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   19 43 51.4   -25 37 15     3.377    2.411    9.3    3.8   233   29.7 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   19 45 44.2   -25 33 39     3.376    2.412    9.8    4.0   234   29.7 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   19 47 36.8   -25 30 00     3.376    2.414   10.4    4.2   235   29.7 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   19 49 29.1   -25 26 18     3.375    2.416   10.9    4.4   236   29.7 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   19 51 21.1   -25 22 31     3.375    2.418   11.5    4.6   237   29.7 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   19 53 12.9   -25 18 42     3.374    2.419   12.0    4.9   238   29.8 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   19 55 04.3   -25 14 48     3.373    2.421   12.6    5.1   239   29.8 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   19 56 55.5   -25 10 52     3.371    2.423   13.1    5.3   240   29.8 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   19 58 46.4   -25 06 52     3.370    2.424   13.7    5.5   240   29.8 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 00 36.9   -25 02 49     3.368    2.426   14.3    5.7   241   29.8 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 02 27.2   -24 58 42     3.367    2.428   14.8    6.0   241   29.8 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 04 17.2   -24 54 33     3.365    2.429   15.4    6.2   242   29.8 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 06 06.9   -24 50 20     3.363    2.431   16.0    6.4   242   29.8 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 07 56.3   -24 46 04     3.361    2.432   16.6    6.6   243   29.9 

    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.