Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 20VL40

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: 20VL40    
# 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
# WARNING MRQMIN stopped after  13 iterations -- oscilliatory solution
# Chi-squared of fit:     0.78 DOF:     12 RMS:  0.06
# Min/Max residuals:    -0.12    0.11
# Exact a, adot, b, bdot, g, gdot:
  1.611079E-05  2.509494E-02 -8.985663E-07 -5.842976E-04  2.489753E-02  0.000000E+00
# Covariance matrix:
  5.0032E-11  7.7001E-08  5.7623E-13  9.4953E-10  1.8966E-08  0.0000E+00
  7.7001E-08  1.1954E-04  8.9312E-10  1.4717E-06  2.9397E-05  0.0000E+00
  5.7623E-13  8.9312E-10  3.0594E-13 -7.1906E-11  2.1975E-10  0.0000E+00
  9.4953E-10  1.4717E-06 -7.1906E-11  7.7619E-08  3.6212E-07  0.0000E+00
  1.8966E-08  2.9397E-05  2.1975E-10  3.6212E-07  7.2331E-06  0.0000E+00
  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  0.0000E+00  2.0309E-04
#      lat0       lon0       xBary       yBary       zBary        JD0
    0.581769   -1.534750   -0.747668    0.006576   -0.650198  2459162.679571
# Heliocentric elements and errors
Epoch:              2459160.5000  =  2020/11/07
Mean Anomaly:           19.25436 +/-   152.829
Argument of Peri:      135.32981 +/-   214.715
Long of Asc Node:      202.50502 +/-    16.064
Inclination:             1.46420 +/-     0.963
Eccentricity:         0.05917080 +/-    0.5772
Semi-Major Axis:     43.22451351 +/-   21.8387
Time of Perihelion: 2453608.8750 +/-  147804.5
Perihelion:          40.66688446 +/-   32.3200
Aphelion:            45.78214255 +/-   34.0216
Period (y)              284.1865 +/-    215.37
# Ecliptic coordinates at JD0 (AU and AU/d)
Ecliptic X           40.82446622 +/-    4.3368
Ecliptic Y           -0.35134604 +/-    0.1164
Ecliptic Z            0.40771196 +/-    0.0440
Ecliptic XDOT         0.00008169 +/-    0.0016
Ecliptic YDOT         0.00276383 +/-    0.0009
Ecliptic ZDOT        -0.00006447 +/-    0.0000
# Distances at JD0 (AU)
Heliocenter to KBO   40.82801385 +/-    4.3364
Geocenter to KBO     40.16462051 +/-    4.3386
# Hcoef:  7.69

The following table shows the complete astrometric record for 20VL40. 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 (20VL40) followed by the observatory code and reference code for the source of the astrometry.

2020 11  09.17877  23 53 26.52   -00 04 35.87  23.6i 20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  09.18607  23 53 26.51   -00 04 36.10        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  09.19335  23 53 26.49   -00 04 36.33        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.16116  23 53 23.94   -00 04 53.83        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.16844  23 53 23.92   -00 04 53.99        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.17571  23 53 23.90   -00 04 54.07        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  10.18300  23 53 23.88   -00 04 54.23        20VL40    W84  C~8vMD      
2020 11  11.11423  23 53 21.51   -00 05 10.80        20VL40    W84  C~8vME      

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    -0.04       0.00     0.11
     2   0.0000     -0.23     0.06      -0.15    -0.04
     3   0.0000     -0.60     0.02      -0.24    -0.12
     4   0.0027    -42.65    -0.01      -1.09     0.02
     5   0.0027    -42.99    -0.03      -1.12     0.00
     6   0.0027    -43.30    -0.02      -1.07     0.05
     7   0.0027    -43.64    -0.04      -1.10     0.03
     8   0.0053    -82.84     0.05      -2.17    -0.05

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.