(119) Althaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Jan 2026	14.0	2.760 AU	3.284 AU	15h49m	-18°21'	50.2°	15.9°
Opposition	4 Jun 2026	11.9	2.671 AU	1.662 AU	16h56m	-15°23'	172.7°	2.8°

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 Althaea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0818740
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5808178
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.78683
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 203.61463
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 170.31414
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 202.39836
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 193.97720
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.97200
            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
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   15 49 14.8   -18 21 60     3.284    2.760   50.2   15.9   284   14.0 
2026-01-10 01:41 UT   15 49 21.2   -18 22 14     3.283    2.760   50.3   15.9   284   14.0 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   15 50 45.9   -18 25 23     3.273    2.760   50.9   16.1   284   14.0 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   15 52 16.7   -18 28 41     3.261    2.760   51.6   16.2   283   14.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   15 53 47.2   -18 31 55     3.250    2.759   52.2   16.4   283   14.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   15 55 17.4   -18 35 04     3.238    2.759   52.9   16.5   283   14.0 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   15 56 47.3   -18 38 08     3.227    2.758   53.5   16.7   283   14.0 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   15 58 16.8   -18 41 08     3.215    2.758   54.2   16.8   283   14.0 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   15 59 46.0   -18 44 03     3.204    2.757   54.9   17.0   283   14.0 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   16 01 14.9   -18 46 52     3.192    2.757   55.5   17.1   283   14.0 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   16 02 43.4   -18 49 38     3.180    2.756   56.2   17.3   282   14.0 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   16 04 11.5   -18 52 18     3.168    2.756   56.9   17.4   282   14.0 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   16 05 39.2   -18 54 54     3.156    2.755   57.5   17.5   282   14.0 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   16 07 06.5   -18 57 24     3.144    2.755   58.2   17.7   282   14.0 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   16 08 33.4   -18 59 50     3.131    2.755   58.9   17.8   282   13.9 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   16 09 59.9   -19 02 11     3.119    2.754   59.6   17.9   282   13.9 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   16 11 26.0   -19 04 28     3.106    2.754   60.2   18.1   282   13.9 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   16 12 51.7   -19 06 39     3.094    2.753   60.9   18.2   281   13.9 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   16 14 16.8   -19 08 46     3.081    2.753   61.6   18.3   281   13.9 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   16 15 41.6   -19 10 48     3.069    2.752   62.3   18.5   281   13.9 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   16 17 05.8   -19 12 45     3.056    2.752   63.0   18.6   281   13.9 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   16 18 29.6   -19 14 38     3.043    2.751   63.6   18.7   281   13.9 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   16 19 52.9   -19 16 26     3.030    2.751   64.3   18.8   281   13.9 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   16 21 15.7   -19 18 09     3.017    2.750   65.0   18.9   281   13.9 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   16 22 38.0   -19 19 47     3.004    2.750   65.7   19.1   280   13.9 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   16 23 59.8   -19 21 20     2.991    2.749   66.4   19.2   280   13.9 

    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.