(259) Aletheia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 Jan 2026	13.2	2.851 AU	3.829 AU	20h36m	-23°41'	5.9°	2.0°
Opposition	11 Sep 2026	12.4	3.121 AU	2.140 AU	23h44m	-18°51'	164.3°	5.0°

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 Aletheia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1299692
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1335320
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.80839
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 86.78060
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 166.32872
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 28.43028
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 73.34298
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.54028
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.55            
        

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
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   20 36 26.2   -23 41 21     3.829    2.851    5.9    2.0   199   13.2 
2026-01-29 11:44 UT   20 37 18.7   -23 38 58     3.829    2.851    6.1    2.1   201   13.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   20 38 13.6   -23 36 28     3.829    2.852    6.3    2.2   203   13.3 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 40 00.8   -23 31 32     3.829    2.853    6.7    2.3   207   13.3 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 41 47.8   -23 26 32     3.829    2.854    7.1    2.5   210   13.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 43 34.7   -23 21 30     3.829    2.855    7.6    2.6   213   13.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 45 21.3   -23 16 25     3.828    2.856    8.0    2.8   216   13.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 47 07.7   -23 11 18     3.828    2.857    8.5    2.9   218   13.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   20 48 53.9   -23 06 07     3.827    2.858    9.0    3.1   220   13.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   20 50 39.8   -23 00 54     3.827    2.859    9.5    3.3   222   13.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   20 52 25.6   -22 55 39     3.826    2.860   10.1    3.5   224   13.3 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   20 54 11.2   -22 50 20     3.825    2.861   10.6    3.6   225   13.4 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   20 55 56.5   -22 44 60     3.824    2.862   11.1    3.8   226   13.4 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   20 57 41.6   -22 39 36     3.822    2.863   11.7    4.0   227   13.4 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   20 59 26.5   -22 34 11     3.821    2.864   12.2    4.2   228   13.4 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   21 01 11.1   -22 28 43     3.820    2.865   12.8    4.4   229   13.4 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   21 02 55.5   -22 23 13     3.818    2.866   13.3    4.6   230   13.4 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   21 04 39.7   -22 17 41     3.816    2.867   13.9    4.7   231   13.4 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   21 06 23.6   -22 12 06     3.814    2.868   14.5    4.9   232   13.4 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   21 08 07.3   -22 06 30     3.812    2.869   15.0    5.1   232   13.4 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   21 09 50.7   -22 00 51     3.810    2.870   15.6    5.3   233   13.4 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   21 11 33.8   -21 55 11     3.807    2.871   16.2    5.5   234   13.4 

    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.