(132) Aethra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Feb 2026	15.3	3.441 AU	4.357 AU	20h37m	-02°47'	19.3°	5.4°
Opposition	24 Aug 2026	14.5	3.623 AU	2.730 AU	21h25m	+19°27'	147.3°	8.7°

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 Aethra are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3870077
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6120811
            i (Inclination)                 : 24.98355
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 258.05085
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 255.61885
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 113.06116
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 332.25599
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -24.14978
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.22            
        

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
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   20 37 03.0   -02 47 29     4.357    3.441   19.3    5.4   306   15.3 
2026-02-12 00:13 UT   20 37 03.7   -02 47 25     4.357    3.441   19.3    5.4   306   15.3 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   20 38 14.2   -02 40 14     4.356    3.443   19.7    5.6   304   15.3 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   20 39 25.1   -02 32 55     4.355    3.445   20.2    5.7   303   15.3 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   20 40 35.9   -02 25 33     4.353    3.447   20.7    5.8   301   15.3 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   20 41 46.3   -02 18 08     4.351    3.448   21.2    5.9   300   15.3 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   20 42 56.6   -02 10 39     4.349    3.450   21.7    6.1   298   15.3 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   20 44 06.5   -02 03 08     4.347    3.452   22.2    6.2   297   15.3 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   20 45 16.3   -01 55 33     4.344    3.454   22.7    6.3   296   15.3 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   20 46 25.7   -01 47 56     4.342    3.455   23.2    6.5   295   15.3 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   20 47 34.9   -01 40 15     4.339    3.457   23.7    6.6   293   15.3 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   20 48 43.9   -01 32 31     4.336    3.459   24.3    6.8   292   15.3 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   20 49 52.5   -01 24 45     4.333    3.460   24.8    6.9   291   15.4 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   20 51 00.9   -01 16 55     4.330    3.462   25.4    7.0   290   15.4 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   20 52 09.0   -01 09 03     4.327    3.464   26.0    7.2   289   15.4 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   20 53 16.8   -01 01 08     4.323    3.466   26.5    7.3   288   15.4 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   20 54 24.3   +00 53 10     4.319    3.467   27.1    7.5   287   15.4 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   20 55 31.5   +00 45 09     4.315    3.469   27.7    7.6   286   15.4 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   20 56 38.4   +00 37 06     4.311    3.470   28.2    7.8   285   15.4 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   20 57 45.0   +00 28 59     4.307    3.472   28.8    7.9   285   15.4 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   20 58 51.4   +00 20 50     4.303    3.474   29.4    8.1   284   15.4 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   20 59 57.3   +00 12 38     4.298    3.475   30.0    8.2   283   15.4 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   21 01 03.0   +00 04 24     4.293    3.477   30.6    8.4   282   15.4 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   21 02 08.4   +00 03 53     4.289    3.479   31.2    8.5   282   15.4 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   21 03 13.4   +00 12 13     4.284    3.480   31.8    8.6   281   15.4 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   21 04 18.1   +00 20 35     4.278    3.482   32.4    8.8   280   15.4 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   21 05 22.5   +00 28 60     4.273    3.483   33.1    8.9   279   15.4 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   21 06 26.5   +00 37 27     4.268    3.485   33.7    9.1   279   15.4 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   21 07 30.2   +00 45 57     4.262    3.486   34.3    9.2   278   15.4 

    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.