(259) Aletheia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Apr 2024	13.3	3.068 AU	2.589 AU	10h13m	+24°28'	109.0°	18.1°
Opposition	31 May 2025	11.4	2.726 AU	1.715 AU	16h38m	-17°06'	175.0°	1.8°

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)                : 0.1297227
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1319749
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.80851
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 86.78460
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 166.54126
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 281.59610
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 73.55616
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.50153
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.54            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   10 13 10.0   +24 28 55     2.589    3.068  109.0   18.1   116   13.3 
2024-04-27 00:37 UT   10 13 10.3   +24 28 49     2.589    3.068  109.0   18.1   116   13.3 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   10 13 21.7   +24 24 28     2.600    3.067  108.1   18.2   116   13.3 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   10 13 34.6   +24 19 54     2.612    3.065  107.3   18.3   115   13.3 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   10 13 48.7   +24 15 14     2.623    3.064  106.4   18.4   115   13.3 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   10 14 04.2   +24 10 27     2.635    3.063  105.6   18.5   115   13.3 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   10 14 20.8   +24 05 33     2.647    3.062  104.7   18.6   115   13.3 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   10 14 38.7   +24 00 33     2.658    3.060  103.8   18.7   114   13.4 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   10 14 57.8   +23 55 27     2.670    3.059  103.0   18.7   114   13.4 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   10 15 18.1   +23 50 14     2.682    3.058  102.2   18.8   114   13.4 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   10 15 39.7   +23 44 56     2.694    3.057  101.3   18.9   114   13.4 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   10 16 02.3   +23 39 32     2.706    3.055  100.5   18.9   114   13.4 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   10 16 26.2   +23 34 02     2.718    3.054   99.7   19.0   114   13.4 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   10 16 51.2   +23 28 26     2.730    3.053   98.9   19.1   113   13.4 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   10 17 17.4   +23 22 44     2.742    3.052   98.0   19.1   113   13.4 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   10 17 44.7   +23 16 57     2.754    3.050   97.2   19.2   113   13.4 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   10 18 13.0   +23 11 05     2.766    3.049   96.4   19.2   113   13.5 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   10 18 42.5   +23 05 07     2.778    3.048   95.6   19.3   113   13.5 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   10 19 13.1   +22 59 05     2.790    3.046   94.8   19.3   113   13.5 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   10 19 44.7   +22 52 57     2.803    3.045   94.0   19.3   112   13.5 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   10 20 17.4   +22 46 44     2.815    3.044   93.2   19.4   112   13.5 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   10 20 51.1   +22 40 26     2.827    3.043   92.4   19.4   112   13.5 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   10 21 25.8   +22 34 03     2.839    3.041   91.7   19.4   112   13.5 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   10 22 01.5   +22 27 36     2.851    3.040   90.9   19.4   112   13.5 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   10 22 38.2   +22 21 04     2.863    3.039   90.1   19.4   112   13.5 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   10 23 15.8   +22 14 27     2.876    3.038   89.4   19.5   112   13.5 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   10 23 54.4   +22 07 46     2.888    3.036   88.6   19.5   111   13.5 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   10 24 33.9   +22 01 01     2.900    3.035   87.8   19.5   111   13.6 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   10 25 14.4   +21 54 11     2.912    3.034   87.1   19.5   111   13.6 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   10 25 55.7   +21 47 17     2.924    3.033   86.3   19.5   111   13.6 
2024-05-26 00:00 UT   10 26 38.0   +21 40 19     2.936    3.031   85.6   19.5   111   13.6 
2024-05-27 00:00 UT   10 27 21.1   +21 33 16     2.948    3.030   84.8   19.5   111   13.6 

    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.