(113) Amalthea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Sep 2026	11.9	2.534 AU	1.540 AU	23h36m	-08°44'	167.6°	4.9°
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
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   23 36 46.9   -08 44 56     1.540    2.534  167.6    4.9   274   11.9 
2026-09-03 04:13 UT   23 36 38.0   -08 46 15     1.539    2.534  167.8    4.8   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 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   23 28 00.2   -09 58 33     1.537    2.540  173.9    2.4   348   11.8 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   23 27 06.3   -10 05 36     1.538    2.540  173.5    2.6   358   11.8 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   23 26 12.4   -10 12 33     1.540    2.541  173.0    2.8     8   11.8 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   23 25 18.7   -10 19 24     1.541    2.541  172.3    3.1    15   11.8 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   23 24 25.2   -10 26 08     1.543    2.542  171.4    3.4    22   11.8 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 23 31.9   -10 32 46     1.546    2.542  170.5    3.7    27   11.9 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   23 22 39.0   -10 39 16     1.548    2.543  169.6    4.1    31   11.9 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   23 21 46.4   -10 45 39     1.551    2.544  168.5    4.5    35   11.9 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   23 20 54.3   -10 51 54     1.554    2.544  167.5    4.9    38   11.9 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   23 20 02.8   -10 58 00     1.558    2.545  166.4    5.3    40   12.0 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   23 19 11.8   -11 03 58     1.561    2.545  165.3    5.7    43   12.0 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   23 18 21.5   -11 09 46     1.565    2.546  164.2    6.1    44   12.0 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   23 17 31.8   -11 15 25     1.570    2.546  163.1    6.6    46   12.0 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   23 16 42.9   -11 20 55     1.574    2.547  162.0    7.0    47   12.1 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   23 15 54.9   -11 26 14     1.579    2.547  160.9    7.4    49   12.1 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   23 15 07.7   -11 31 24     1.584    2.548  159.7    7.8    50   12.1 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   23 14 21.4   -11 36 23     1.589    2.548  158.6    8.2    51   12.1 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   23 13 36.1   -11 41 11     1.594    2.549  157.5    8.7    52   12.2 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   23 12 51.8   -11 45 49     1.600    2.549  156.3    9.1    53   12.2 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   23 12 08.5   -11 50 16     1.606    2.550  155.2    9.5    53   12.2 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   23 11 26.3   -11 54 31     1.612    2.550  154.1    9.9    54   12.2 

    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.