(82) Alkmene
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	6 Jan 2026	10.7	2.205 AU	1.224 AU	07h16m	+27°20'	174.8°	2.3°
Today	24 Jan 2026	11.0	2.187 AU	1.239 AU	06h59m	+27°44'	159.1°	9.3°

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 Alkmene are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2211034
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7639715
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.82513
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 25.40943
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 110.71943
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 331.29883
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -43.84807
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.64228
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.60            
        

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
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   06 59 56.7   +27 44 14     1.239    2.187  159.1    9.3   109   11.0 
2026-01-24 10:12 UT   06 59 35.7   +27 44 22     1.240    2.186  158.6    9.5   109   11.1 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   06 59 07.6   +27 44 32     1.242    2.186  157.9    9.8   108   11.1 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   06 58 19.9   +27 44 45     1.245    2.185  156.7   10.2   107   11.1 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   06 57 33.9   +27 44 50     1.249    2.184  155.6   10.7   107   11.1 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   06 56 49.5   +27 44 50     1.253    2.183  154.4   11.2   106   11.1 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   06 56 06.8   +27 44 43     1.257    2.182  153.3   11.7   105   11.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   06 55 25.9   +27 44 30     1.261    2.181  152.2   12.2   105   11.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   06 54 46.8   +27 44 11     1.266    2.180  151.0   12.6   104   11.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   06 54 09.6   +27 43 46     1.270    2.179  149.9   13.1   104   11.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   06 53 34.4   +27 43 15     1.275    2.179  148.8   13.6   103   11.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   06 53 01.0   +27 42 39     1.280    2.178  147.6   14.0   103   11.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   06 52 29.7   +27 41 57     1.286    2.177  146.5   14.5   102   11.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   06 52 00.5   +27 41 10     1.291    2.176  145.4   14.9   102   11.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   06 51 33.3   +27 40 18     1.297    2.175  144.3   15.3   102   11.4 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   06 51 08.2   +27 39 21     1.303    2.175  143.2   15.8   101   11.4 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   06 50 45.2   +27 38 19     1.309    2.174  142.2   16.2   101   11.4 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   06 50 24.5   +27 37 12     1.315    2.173  141.1   16.6   101   11.4 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   06 50 05.9   +27 36 01     1.322    2.172  140.0   17.0   101   11.5 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   06 49 49.5   +27 34 45     1.328    2.172  138.9   17.4   100   11.5 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   06 49 35.3   +27 33 25     1.335    2.171  137.9   17.8   100   11.5 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   06 49 23.4   +27 32 01     1.342    2.170  136.9   18.1   100   11.5 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   06 49 13.8   +27 30 33     1.349    2.170  135.8   18.5   100   11.5 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   06 49 06.4   +27 29 00     1.357    2.169  134.8   18.9    99   11.6 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   06 49 01.3   +27 27 24     1.364    2.168  133.8   19.2    99   11.6 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   06 48 58.5   +27 25 45     1.372    2.168  132.8   19.6    99   11.6 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   06 48 57.9   +27 24 01     1.379    2.167  131.8   19.9    99   11.6 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   06 48 59.6   +27 22 15     1.387    2.166  130.8   20.2    99   11.7 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   06 49 03.6   +27 20 24     1.395    2.166  129.8   20.5    99   11.7 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   06 49 09.9   +27 18 31     1.404    2.165  128.8   20.9    98   11.7 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   06 49 18.4   +27 16 34     1.412    2.165  127.8   21.2    98   11.7 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   06 49 29.1   +27 14 34     1.420    2.164  126.9   21.5    98   11.7 

    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.