(124) Alkeste
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	14 Jun 2025	11.0	2.429 AU	1.416 AU	17h36m	-18°23'	175.0°	2.1°
Today	18 Jun 2025	11.0	2.430 AU	1.417 AU	17h32m	-18°20'	174.1°	2.4°

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 Alkeste are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0783889
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6299281
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.96344
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 187.90891
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 61.65611
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 2.89910
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 249.53297
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.60790
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.26            
        

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
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   17 32 54.2   -18 20 08     1.417    2.430  174.1    2.4   150   11.0 
2025-06-18 06:22 UT   17 32 39.5   -18 19 56     1.417    2.430  174.0    2.5   148   11.0 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   17 31 58.6   -18 19 21     1.418    2.430  173.4    2.7   142   11.0 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   17 31 03.2   -18 18 36     1.419    2.430  172.6    3.1   135   11.1 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   17 30 08.2   -18 17 54     1.421    2.431  171.7    3.5   129   11.1 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   17 29 13.6   -18 17 14     1.422    2.431  170.7    3.9   125   11.1 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   17 28 19.5   -18 16 38     1.424    2.431  169.7    4.3   122   11.1 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   17 27 25.9   -18 16 04     1.427    2.431  168.7    4.7   119   11.2 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   17 26 33.0   -18 15 32     1.429    2.432  167.7    5.1   117   11.2 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   17 25 40.8   -18 15 04     1.432    2.432  166.6    5.6   115   11.2 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   17 24 49.3   -18 14 39     1.435    2.432  165.5    6.0   113   11.3 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   17 23 58.8   -18 14 17     1.438    2.432  164.4    6.4   112   11.3 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   17 23 09.1   -18 13 58     1.441    2.433  163.3    6.9   110   11.3 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   17 22 20.4   -18 13 42     1.445    2.433  162.2    7.3   109   11.3 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   17 21 32.7   -18 13 29     1.449    2.433  161.1    7.8   108   11.4 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   17 20 46.2   -18 13 19     1.453    2.433  160.0    8.2   108   11.4 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   17 20 00.8   -18 13 13     1.457    2.434  158.9    8.6   107   11.4 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   17 19 16.6   -18 13 10     1.462    2.434  157.8    9.1   106   11.4 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   17 18 33.6   -18 13 10     1.467    2.434  156.7    9.5   106   11.5 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   17 17 51.9   -18 13 14     1.472    2.435  155.7    9.9   105   11.5 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   17 17 11.6   -18 13 20     1.477    2.435  154.6   10.3   104   11.5 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   17 16 32.6   -18 13 31     1.483    2.435  153.5   10.7   104   11.5 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   17 15 55.1   -18 13 44     1.489    2.435  152.4   11.1   104   11.6 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   17 15 19.0   -18 14 02     1.495    2.436  151.3   11.6   103   11.6 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   17 14 44.4   -18 14 22     1.501    2.436  150.3   11.9   103   11.6 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   17 14 11.2   -18 14 46     1.507    2.436  149.2   12.3   103   11.6 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   17 13 39.7   -18 15 14     1.514    2.437  148.1   12.7   102   11.7 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   17 13 09.7   -18 15 44     1.520    2.437  147.1   13.1   102   11.7 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   17 12 41.3   -18 16 19     1.527    2.437  146.0   13.5   102   11.7 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   17 12 14.5   -18 16 57     1.535    2.438  145.0   13.8   101   11.7 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   17 11 49.3   -18 17 38     1.542    2.438  143.9   14.2   101   11.8 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   17 11 25.8   -18 18 23     1.549    2.438  142.9   14.6   101   11.8 

    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.