(259) Aletheia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Apr 2026	13.7	2.950 AU	3.355 AU	22h57m	-15°14'	58.1°	16.8°
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
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   22 57 02.5   -15 14 59     3.355    2.950   58.1   16.8   242   13.7 
2026-04-28 01:30 UT   22 57 07.3   -15 14 40     3.355    2.950   58.1   16.8   242   13.7 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   22 58 20.2   -15 10 05     3.345    2.951   58.7   17.0   242   13.7 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   22 59 37.3   -15 05 15     3.335    2.952   59.4   17.1   242   13.7 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   23 00 54.0   -15 00 29     3.325    2.953   60.0   17.2   242   13.7 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   23 02 10.2   -14 55 45     3.314    2.954   60.7   17.3   243   13.7 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   23 03 25.9   -14 51 06     3.304    2.956   61.3   17.4   243   13.7 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   23 04 41.1   -14 46 30     3.294    2.957   62.0   17.5   243   13.7 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   23 05 55.8   -14 41 58     3.283    2.958   62.6   17.6   243   13.7 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   23 07 10.0   -14 37 30     3.272    2.959   63.3   17.7   243   13.7 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   23 08 23.6   -14 33 06     3.262    2.960   63.9   17.8   243   13.7 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   23 09 36.7   -14 28 46     3.251    2.962   64.6   17.9   243   13.7 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   23 10 49.2   -14 24 30     3.240    2.963   65.3   18.0   243   13.7 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   23 12 01.2   -14 20 18     3.229    2.964   65.9   18.1   243   13.7 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   23 13 12.7   -14 16 11     3.218    2.965   66.6   18.2   243   13.7 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   23 14 23.6   -14 12 08     3.207    2.966   67.3   18.3   243   13.6 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   23 15 33.9   -14 08 10     3.196    2.968   67.9   18.4   243   13.6 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   23 16 43.7   -14 04 16     3.185    2.969   68.6   18.5   243   13.6 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   23 17 52.9   -14 00 27     3.173    2.970   69.3   18.6   243   13.6 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   23 19 01.5   -13 56 43     3.162    2.971   69.9   18.6   243   13.6 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   23 20 09.4   -13 53 03     3.151    2.973   70.6   18.7   244   13.6 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   23 21 16.8   -13 49 29     3.139    2.974   71.3   18.8   244   13.6 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   23 22 23.6   -13 45 59     3.128    2.975   72.0   18.9   244   13.6 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   23 23 29.7   -13 42 35     3.117    2.976   72.7   18.9   244   13.6 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   23 24 35.2   -13 39 16     3.105    2.977   73.4   19.0   244   13.6 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   23 25 40.1   -13 36 03     3.093    2.979   74.0   19.1   244   13.6 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   23 26 44.3   -13 32 55     3.082    2.980   74.7   19.1   244   13.6 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   23 27 47.8   -13 29 52     3.070    2.981   75.4   19.2   244   13.6 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   23 28 50.8   -13 26 54     3.058    2.982   76.1   19.2   244   13.6 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   23 29 53.0   -13 24 03     3.047    2.984   76.8   19.3   244   13.6 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   23 30 54.6   -13 21 17     3.035    2.985   77.5   19.4   244   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.