(119) Althaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	4 Jun 2026	11.9	2.671 AU	1.662 AU	16h56m	-15°23'	172.7°	2.8°
Today	16 Jun 2026	12.0	2.662 AU	1.667 AU	16h46m	-14°52'	165.5°	5.5°

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 Althaea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0817258
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5812783
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.78624
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.61091
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 170.23457
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 250.01802
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 193.89428
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.97981
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.15            
        

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
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   16 46 20.1   -14 52 49     1.667    2.662  165.5    5.5   128   12.0 
2026-06-16 04:30 UT   16 46 10.1   -14 52 23     1.667    2.662  165.3    5.5   127   12.0 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   16 45 27.1   -14 50 34     1.669    2.662  164.5    5.8   125   12.0 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   16 44 34.8   -14 48 23     1.671    2.661  163.5    6.2   124   12.1 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   16 43 43.1   -14 46 18     1.674    2.660  162.4    6.6   122   12.1 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   16 42 52.3   -14 44 18     1.677    2.659  161.4    7.0   120   12.1 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   16 42 02.3   -14 42 22     1.680    2.659  160.3    7.4   119   12.1 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   16 41 13.2   -14 40 32     1.683    2.658  159.2    7.8   118   12.1 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   16 40 25.0   -14 38 48     1.687    2.657  158.1    8.2   117   12.2 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   16 39 37.9   -14 37 09     1.690    2.656  157.1    8.6   116   12.2 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   16 38 51.7   -14 35 35     1.695    2.655  156.0    9.0   115   12.2 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   16 38 06.7   -14 34 07     1.699    2.655  154.9    9.3   114   12.2 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   16 37 22.8   -14 32 44     1.703    2.654  153.8    9.7   114   12.2 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   16 36 40.0   -14 31 27     1.708    2.653  152.7   10.1   113   12.3 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   16 35 58.4   -14 30 16     1.713    2.652  151.7   10.5   112   12.3 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   16 35 18.0   -14 29 11     1.718    2.651  150.6   10.9   112   12.3 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   16 34 39.0   -14 28 11     1.724    2.651  149.5   11.2   111   12.3 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   16 34 01.2   -14 27 18     1.730    2.650  148.4   11.6   111   12.3 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   16 33 24.7   -14 26 30     1.735    2.649  147.4   11.9   110   12.4 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   16 32 49.6   -14 25 48     1.741    2.648  146.3   12.3   110   12.4 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   16 32 15.9   -14 25 12     1.748    2.647  145.3   12.6   109   12.4 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   16 31 43.6   -14 24 42     1.754    2.647  144.2   13.0   109   12.4 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   16 31 12.7   -14 24 18     1.761    2.646  143.2   13.3   109   12.4 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   16 30 43.3   -14 24 00     1.768    2.645  142.1   13.7   108   12.5 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   16 30 15.4   -14 23 48     1.775    2.644  141.1   14.0   108   12.5 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   16 29 49.0   -14 23 42     1.782    2.643  140.0   14.3   108   12.5 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   16 29 24.1   -14 23 42     1.790    2.642  139.0   14.6   107   12.5 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   16 29 00.7   -14 23 48     1.797    2.642  138.0   14.9   107   12.5 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   16 28 38.9   -14 23 60     1.805    2.641  136.9   15.2   107   12.6 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   16 28 18.7   -14 24 18     1.813    2.640  135.9   15.5   107   12.6 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   16 28 00.1   -14 24 41     1.821    2.639  134.9   15.8   106   12.6 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   16 27 43.0   -14 25 11     1.830    2.638  133.9   16.1   106   12.6 

    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.