2022 WK1
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Feb 2026	30.0	2.448 AU	3.322 AU	20h29m	-23°51'	23.6°	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 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
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   20 29 25.2   -23 51 14     3.322    2.448   23.6    9.3   245   30.0 
2026-02-16 08:37 UT   20 30 03.0   -23 49 30     3.320    2.449   23.8    9.4   245   30.0 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   20 31 10.5   -23 46 24     3.318    2.450   24.2    9.5   245   30.0 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   20 32 55.5   -23 41 31     3.313    2.451   24.7    9.7   245   30.0 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   20 34 40.2   -23 36 37     3.309    2.452   25.3    9.9   245   30.0 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   20 36 24.5   -23 31 40     3.304    2.453   25.9   10.2   246   30.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   20 38 08.5   -23 26 41     3.299    2.454   26.5   10.4   246   30.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   20 39 52.1   -23 21 41     3.294    2.455   27.1   10.6   246   30.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   20 41 35.4   -23 16 38     3.289    2.456   27.7   10.8   246   30.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   20 43 18.3   -23 11 34     3.283    2.457   28.3   11.0   246   30.0 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   20 45 00.9   -23 06 28     3.278    2.459   28.9   11.2   246   30.0 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   20 46 43.1   -23 01 21     3.272    2.460   29.5   11.4   246   30.0 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   20 48 25.0   -22 56 12     3.266    2.460   30.1   11.6   246   30.0 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   20 50 06.5   -22 51 01     3.261    2.461   30.7   11.9   246   30.0 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   20 51 47.6   -22 45 49     3.254    2.462   31.3   12.1   246   30.0 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   20 53 28.4   -22 40 36     3.248    2.463   31.9   12.3   246   30.0 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   20 55 08.9   -22 35 21     3.242    2.464   32.5   12.5   246   30.0 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   20 56 48.9   -22 30 05     3.235    2.465   33.1   12.7   246   30.0 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   20 58 28.6   -22 24 48     3.229    2.466   33.7   12.9   246   30.1 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   21 00 08.0   -22 19 29     3.222    2.467   34.3   13.1   246   30.1 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   21 01 47.0   -22 14 10     3.215    2.467   34.9   13.3   246   30.1 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   21 03 25.6   -22 08 50     3.208    2.468   35.5   13.5   246   30.1 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   21 05 03.8   -22 03 28     3.200    2.469   36.1   13.7   246   30.1 

    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.