(516) Amherstia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 Apr 2026	14.1	2.989 AU	3.935 AU	23h53m	+04°02'	16.4°	5.4°
Opposition	18 Oct 2026	13.2	3.329 AU	2.358 AU	01h07m	+23°48'	164.6°	4.5°

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 Amherstia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2756250
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6777276
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.95476
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 328.71146
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 258.05399
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 69.99126
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 46.46276
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -12.66948
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.38            
        

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
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   23 53 13.0   +04 02 37     3.935    2.989   16.4    5.4   262   14.1 
2026-04-06 20:31 UT   23 54 19.7   +04 11 36     3.934    2.991   16.9    5.6   261   14.2 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   23 54 31.0   +04 13 08     3.934    2.991   17.0    5.6   261   14.2 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   23 55 48.8   +04 23 38     3.932    2.993   17.6    5.8   261   14.2 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   23 57 06.4   +04 34 07     3.931    2.996   18.2    6.0   260   14.2 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   23 58 23.9   +04 44 36     3.929    2.998   18.8    6.2   260   14.2 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   23 59 41.1   +04 55 05     3.927    3.000   19.4    6.4   260   14.2 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   00 00 58.2   +05 05 32     3.925    3.003   20.0    6.6   259   14.2 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   00 02 15.0   +05 15 58     3.922    3.005   20.6    6.7   259   14.2 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   00 03 31.6   +05 26 24     3.920    3.007   21.2    6.9   259   14.2 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   00 04 48.0   +05 36 49     3.918    3.009   21.8    7.1   258   14.2 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   00 06 04.2   +05 47 13     3.915    3.012   22.4    7.3   258   14.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   00 07 20.2   +05 57 36     3.912    3.014   23.0    7.5   258   14.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   00 08 36.0   +06 07 58     3.909    3.016   23.7    7.7   257   14.3 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   00 09 51.5   +06 18 20     3.906    3.019   24.3    7.9   257   14.3 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   00 11 06.8   +06 28 40     3.902    3.021   24.9    8.0   257   14.3 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   00 12 21.9   +06 38 59     3.899    3.023   25.5    8.2   257   14.3 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   00 13 36.7   +06 49 17     3.895    3.025   26.1    8.4   257   14.3 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   00 14 51.3   +06 59 33     3.892    3.028   26.7    8.6   256   14.3 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   00 16 05.6   +07 09 49     3.888    3.030   27.4    8.8   256   14.3 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   00 17 19.7   +07 20 04     3.884    3.032   28.0    9.0   256   14.3 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   00 18 33.6   +07 30 17     3.879    3.034   28.6    9.1   256   14.3 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   00 19 47.2   +07 40 29     3.875    3.037   29.2    9.3   256   14.3 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   00 21 00.6   +07 50 40     3.871    3.039   29.8    9.5   256   14.3 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   00 22 13.7   +08 00 50     3.866    3.041   30.5    9.7   255   14.3 

    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.