(119) Althaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Feb 2026	13.7	2.739 AU	2.719 AU	16h49m	-19°36'	80.7°	20.9°
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) : 203.61464
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 170.31414
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 202.39835
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 193.97721
            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
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   16 49 06.0   -19 36 11     2.719    2.739   80.7   20.9   277   13.7 
2026-02-23 02:43 UT   16 49 13.7   -19 36 11     2.717    2.739   80.8   20.9   277   13.7 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   16 50 13.8   -19 36 08     2.704    2.738   81.5   20.9   277   13.7 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   16 51 20.7   -19 36 00     2.690    2.738   82.2   21.0   277   13.7 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   16 52 26.7   -19 35 48     2.676    2.737   82.9   21.0   277   13.7 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   16 53 31.9   -19 35 32     2.662    2.737   83.7   21.1   277   13.7 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   16 54 36.2   -19 35 12     2.648    2.736   84.4   21.1   277   13.7 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   16 55 39.7   -19 34 47     2.634    2.735   85.2   21.2   277   13.7 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   16 56 42.2   -19 34 18     2.620    2.735   86.0   21.2   276   13.7 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   16 57 43.9   -19 33 45     2.606    2.734   86.7   21.2   276   13.6 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   16 58 44.6   -19 33 08     2.591    2.734   87.5   21.2   276   13.6 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   16 59 44.3   -19 32 27     2.577    2.733   88.3   21.3   276   13.6 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   17 00 43.1   -19 31 41     2.563    2.733   89.0   21.3   276   13.6 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   17 01 41.0   -19 30 52     2.549    2.732   89.8   21.3   276   13.6 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   17 02 37.8   -19 29 58     2.535    2.731   90.6   21.3   276   13.6 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   17 03 33.6   -19 29 01     2.520    2.731   91.4   21.3   275   13.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   17 04 28.4   -19 27 59     2.506    2.730   92.1   21.3   275   13.6 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   17 05 22.2   -19 26 54     2.492    2.730   92.9   21.3   275   13.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   17 06 14.8   -19 25 44     2.478    2.729   93.7   21.3   275   13.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   17 07 06.4   -19 24 31     2.464    2.728   94.5   21.3   275   13.5 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   17 07 56.9   -19 23 14     2.450    2.728   95.3   21.3   275   13.5 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   17 08 46.3   -19 21 53     2.436    2.727   96.1   21.3   275   13.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   17 09 34.5   -19 20 29     2.422    2.727   96.9   21.2   275   13.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   17 10 21.5   -19 19 01     2.407    2.726   97.7   21.2   274   13.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   17 11 07.4   -19 17 29     2.393    2.725   98.6   21.2   274   13.4 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   17 11 52.0   -19 15 53     2.379    2.725   99.4   21.1   274   13.4 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   17 12 35.5   -19 14 14     2.365    2.724  100.2   21.1   274   13.4 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   17 13 17.7   -19 12 31     2.351    2.724  101.0   21.0   274   13.4 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   17 13 58.7   -19 10 45     2.338    2.723  101.9   21.0   274   13.4 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   17 14 38.3   -19 08 56     2.324    2.722  102.7   20.9   274   13.4 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   17 15 16.8   -19 07 03     2.310    2.722  103.5   20.9   273   13.4 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   17 15 53.9   -19 05 07     2.296    2.721  104.4   20.8   273   13.3 

    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.