2021 VJ5
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Feb 2026	30.0	3.212 AU	2.473 AU	11h38m	-30°21'	131.3°	13.4°

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 2021 VJ5 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5531493
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0761783
            i (Inclination)                 : 29.84363
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 221.96223
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 134.49324
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 137.98339
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 180.52199
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 20.79217
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.99            
        

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
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   11 38 51.3   -30 21 27     2.473    3.212  131.3   13.4   327   30.0 
2026-02-17 01:02 UT   11 38 49.0   -30 21 23     2.473    3.212  131.4   13.3   327   30.0 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   11 37 59.4   -30 19 57     2.464    3.213  132.2   13.2   328   30.0 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   11 37 06.5   -30 18 10     2.456    3.214  133.1   13.0   330   30.0 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   11 36 12.6   -30 16 05     2.448    3.214  133.9   12.8   331   30.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   11 35 17.7   -30 13 43     2.440    3.215  134.8   12.6   332   30.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   11 34 21.8   -30 11 02     2.433    3.215  135.6   12.4   333   29.9 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   11 33 25.1   -30 08 03     2.426    3.216  136.5   12.2   335   29.9 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   11 32 27.5   -30 04 46     2.418    3.216  137.3   12.0   336   29.9 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   11 31 29.1   -30 01 11     2.411    3.217  138.1   11.9   337   29.9 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   11 30 30.0   -29 57 17     2.405    3.217  138.9   11.7   339   29.9 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   11 29 30.2   -29 53 05     2.398    3.218  139.7   11.5   340   29.9 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   11 28 29.8   -29 48 35     2.392    3.218  140.4   11.3   342   29.9 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   11 27 28.7   -29 43 46     2.386    3.219  141.2   11.1   344   29.9 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   11 26 27.2   -29 38 39     2.381    3.219  141.9   10.9   345   29.8 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   11 25 25.1   -29 33 14     2.375    3.219  142.6   10.8   347   29.8 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   11 24 22.7   -29 27 30     2.370    3.220  143.3   10.6   349   29.8 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   11 23 19.8   -29 21 28     2.365    3.220  144.0   10.4   351   29.8 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   11 22 16.6   -29 15 08     2.360    3.221  144.6   10.3   353   29.8 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   11 21 13.2   -29 08 31     2.356    3.221  145.2   10.1   355   29.8 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   11 20 09.6   -29 01 35     2.352    3.221  145.8   10.0   357   29.8 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   11 19 05.8   -28 54 22     2.348    3.222  146.4    9.8   359   29.8 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   11 18 02.0   -28 46 51     2.344    3.222  146.9    9.7     1   29.8 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   11 16 58.1   -28 39 03     2.341    3.222  147.4    9.6     3   29.8 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   11 15 54.2   -28 30 58     2.338    3.222  147.8    9.4     5   29.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   11 14 50.4   -28 22 36     2.335    3.223  148.2    9.3     8   29.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   11 13 46.8   -28 13 58     2.332    3.223  148.6    9.2    10   29.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   11 12 43.4   -28 05 03     2.330    3.223  148.9    9.2    12   29.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   11 11 40.3   -27 55 53     2.328    3.223  149.2    9.1    15   29.7 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   11 10 37.5   -27 46 27     2.327    3.224  149.5    9.0    17   29.7 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   11 09 35.1   -27 36 46     2.325    3.224  149.7    9.0    20   29.7 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   11 08 33.2   -27 26 50     2.324    3.224  149.8    8.9    22   29.7 

    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.