(113) Amalthea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 Aug 2026	12.4	2.521 AU	1.628 AU	23h50m	-06°19'	144.3°	13.6°
Opposition	11 Sep 2026	11.7	2.539 AU	1.536 AU	23h29m	-09°47'	174.0°	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 Amalthea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0862648
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3764756
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.04256
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 123.32165
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 80.24809
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 114.00862
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 203.53258
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.96951
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.66            
        

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
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   23 50 39.0   -06 19 40     1.628    2.521  144.3   13.6   253   12.4 
2026-08-13 20:16 UT   23 50 16.5   -06 24 40     1.623    2.522  145.2   13.3   254   12.4 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   23 50 12.2   -06 25 36     1.622    2.522  145.4   13.2   254   12.4 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   23 49 44.0   -06 31 39     1.616    2.523  146.5   12.8   254   12.3 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   23 49 14.2   -06 37 51     1.609    2.523  147.6   12.4   254   12.3 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   23 48 43.1   -06 44 10     1.604    2.524  148.7   12.0   255   12.3 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   23 48 10.5   -06 50 36     1.598    2.525  149.8   11.6   255   12.3 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   23 47 36.5   -06 57 09     1.593    2.525  150.9   11.2   256   12.2 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   23 47 01.2   -07 03 49     1.587    2.526  152.0   10.8   256   12.2 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   23 46 24.6   -07 10 35     1.582    2.526  153.1   10.4   257   12.2 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   23 45 46.7   -07 17 27     1.578    2.527  154.2   10.0   258   12.2 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   23 45 07.5   -07 24 24     1.573    2.528  155.4    9.6   258   12.2 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   23 44 27.2   -07 31 27     1.569    2.528  156.5    9.2   259   12.1 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   23 43 45.7   -07 38 34     1.565    2.529  157.6    8.8   260   12.1 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   23 43 03.0   -07 45 45     1.561    2.529  158.7    8.3   261   12.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   23 42 19.3   -07 53 00     1.557    2.530  159.9    7.9   262   12.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   23 41 34.5   -08 00 19     1.554    2.531  161.0    7.5   263   12.0 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   23 40 48.8   -08 07 40     1.551    2.531  162.1    7.0   264   12.0 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   23 40 02.1   -08 15 04     1.548    2.532  163.2    6.6   265   12.0 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   23 39 14.5   -08 22 30     1.546    2.532  164.3    6.2   267   12.0 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   23 38 26.1   -08 29 58     1.543    2.533  165.4    5.8   269   11.9 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   23 37 36.8   -08 37 27     1.541    2.534  166.5    5.3   271   11.9 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   23 36 46.9   -08 44 56     1.540    2.534  167.6    4.9   274   11.9 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   23 35 56.2   -08 52 26     1.538    2.535  168.6    4.5   277   11.9 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   23 35 05.0   -08 59 55     1.537    2.535  169.6    4.1   280   11.9 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   23 34 13.1   -09 07 23     1.536    2.536  170.6    3.7   285   11.8 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   23 33 20.8   -09 14 50     1.535    2.536  171.5    3.4   290   11.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   23 32 28.0   -09 22 15     1.535    2.537  172.3    3.0   296   11.8 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   23 31 34.9   -09 29 38     1.535    2.538  173.0    2.8   304   11.8 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   23 30 41.5   -09 36 57     1.535    2.538  173.6    2.5   314   11.8 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   23 29 47.8   -09 44 13     1.535    2.539  173.9    2.4   324   11.8 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   23 28 54.0   -09 51 26     1.536    2.539  174.0    2.4   336   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.