Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 20VK40

The following information shows the result of the orbit fit based on Gary Bernstein's method. Most of the information should be self-explanatory. Take special note that while the original Bernstein software works with barycentric coordinates, we convert these results into a heliocentric coordinate system.

# Object: 20VK40    
# Created Thu Jul  3 01:11:52 2025
# Orbit generated from Bernstein formalism
# Fitting      8 observations of      8
# Arc:   1.94d
# First observation: 2020/11/09
#  Last observation: 2020/11/11
# WARNING Fitting with energy constraint
# WARNING and with gdot fixed = 0
# Chi-squared of fit:     0.68 DOF:     12 RMS:  0.05
# Min/Max residuals:    -0.11    0.09
# Exact a, adot, b, bdot, g, gdot:
  1.183233E-05  1.592888E-02  7.862337E-06  1.103218E-02  2.121040E-02  0.000000E+00
# Covariance matrix:
  8.7714E-11  1.1483E-07 -2.9900E-13 -6.1761E-10  2.7867E-08  0.0000E+00
  1.1483E-07  1.5134E-04 -3.9296E-10 -8.1310E-07  3.6673E-05  0.0000E+00
 -2.9900E-13 -3.9296E-10  3.7327E-13 -1.1501E-10 -9.5311E-11  0.0000E+00
 -6.1761E-10 -8.1310E-07 -1.1501E-10  7.7133E-08 -1.9710E-07  0.0000E+00
  2.7867E-08  3.6673E-05 -9.5311E-11 -1.9710E-07  8.8909E-06  0.0000E+00
  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  1.2557E-04
#      lat0       lon0       xBary       yBary       zBary        JD0
   -0.240345   -0.777910   -0.739014   -0.002795   -0.660045  2459162.679571
# Heliocentric elements and errors
Epoch:              2459160.5000  =  2020/11/07
Mean Anomaly:           46.21537 +/-   146.634
Argument of Peri:      311.58267 +/-   215.022
Long of Asc Node:        0.44329 +/-     0.388
Inclination:            34.64139 +/-    20.821
Eccentricity:         0.02111692 +/-    0.6053
Semi-Major Axis:     48.51601867 +/-   24.2542
Time of Perihelion: 2443314.8473 +/-  543872.0
Perihelion:          47.49150957 +/-   37.7638
Aphelion:            49.54052777 +/-   38.4161
Period (y)              337.9371 +/-    253.41
# Ecliptic coordinates at JD0 (AU and AU/d)
Ecliptic X           47.81823905 +/-    6.6272
Ecliptic Y            0.08415851 +/-    0.0903
Ecliptic Z           -0.19746801 +/-    0.0277
Ecliptic XDOT         0.00004102 +/-    0.0014
Ecliptic YDOT         0.00206112 +/-    0.0013
Ecliptic ZDOT         0.00142381 +/-    0.0002
# Distances at JD0 (AU)
Heliocenter to KBO   47.81872084 +/-    6.6272
Geocenter to KBO     47.14668389 +/-    6.6279
# Hcoef:  6.91

The following table shows the complete astrometric record for 20VK40. The first three columns show the date of observation. The next six columns are RA and DEC. The next column (when provided) is the observed magnitude and filter. The next column is the object name (20VK40) followed by the observatory code and reference code for the source of the astrometry.

2020 11  09.17877  23 57 31.65   -00 31 47.79        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  09.19335  23 57 31.61   -00 31 48.02        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.13934  23 57 29.09   -00 31 57.68        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.16116  23 57 29.03   -00 31 58.05  23.5i 20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.16844  23 57 29.01   -00 31 58.09        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.17571  23 57 28.99   -00 31 58.18        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.18300  23 57 28.97   -00 31 58.33        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  11.11423  23 57 26.54   -00 32 07.38        20VK40    W84  C~8vMD      

The following table shows the residuals to the orbit fit. The first coumn is the point number. The second column is the time, in years, measured from the first observation. The third and fifth columns are the regularized positions used in the orbit fit. The fourth and sixth columns are the residuals, in arc seconds, for RA and Dec respectively.

     1   0.0000      0.00     0.01       0.00     0.07
     2   0.0000     -0.64    -0.02       0.03     0.00
     3   0.0026    -39.16     0.07       6.20     0.07
     4   0.0027    -40.14    -0.00       6.22    -0.06
     5   0.0027    -40.43     0.01       6.30    -0.03
     6   0.0027    -40.74    -0.01       6.34    -0.04
     7   0.0027    -41.07    -0.04       6.32    -0.11
     8   0.0053    -78.11    -0.01      12.51     0.09

The following table comes from a 10My integration of the orbit of the object. Three columns are shown. The first column is the result of integrating the nominal orbit. The other two columns are based on clones of the nominal orbit that are +/- 3 sigma from the nominal orbit. If all three types agree then the classificiation is deemed secure. The basis for these calculations is described in more detail in AJ, 129, 1117 (2005). Any use made of these calculations should refer to and credit this publication and the Deep Ecliptic Survey Team.