(516) Amherstia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	18 Oct 2026	13.2	3.329 AU	2.358 AU	01h07m	+23°48'	164.6°	4.5°
Today	22 Oct 2026	13.2	3.333 AU	2.365 AU	01h04m	+23°33'	164.0°	4.7°

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)                : 0.2757442
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6773311
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.95537
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 328.71225
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 258.02361
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 115.00505
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 46.43241
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -12.66863
            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
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   01 04 17.3   +23 33 23     2.365    3.333  164.0    4.7   141   13.2 
2026-10-22 23:51 UT   01 03 23.3   +23 28 50     2.367    3.334  163.7    4.8   137   13.2 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   01 03 23.0   +23 28 48     2.367    3.334  163.7    4.8   137   13.2 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   01 02 29.2   +23 24 07     2.370    3.335  163.2    4.9   133   13.2 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   01 01 36.0   +23 19 22     2.374    3.336  162.7    5.1   129   13.3 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   01 00 43.5   +23 14 31     2.377    3.337  162.1    5.3   125   13.3 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   00 59 51.7   +23 09 35     2.381    3.338  161.5    5.4   122   13.3 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   00 59 00.5   +23 04 36     2.385    3.339  160.8    5.6   119   13.3 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   00 58 10.2   +22 59 32     2.389    3.340  160.0    5.8   116   13.3 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   00 57 20.6   +22 54 25     2.394    3.341  159.3    6.0   113   13.3 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   00 56 31.9   +22 49 14     2.399    3.342  158.4    6.3   111   13.3 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   00 55 44.0   +22 44 00     2.404    3.343  157.6    6.5   108   13.4 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   00 54 57.1   +22 38 44     2.410    3.344  156.7    6.7   106   13.4 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   00 54 11.2   +22 33 26     2.415    3.345  155.8    7.0   104   13.4 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   00 53 26.2   +22 28 06     2.421    3.346  154.9    7.2   102   13.4 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   00 52 42.2   +22 22 44     2.428    3.347  154.0    7.5   101   13.4 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   00 51 59.3   +22 17 21     2.434    3.348  153.0    7.7    99   13.4 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   00 51 17.5   +22 11 58     2.441    3.349  152.0    8.0    97   13.5 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   00 50 36.9   +22 06 34     2.448    3.350  151.1    8.2    96   13.5 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   00 49 57.3   +22 01 11     2.456    3.351  150.1    8.5    95   13.5 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   00 49 19.0   +21 55 47     2.464    3.352  149.1    8.7    93   13.5 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   00 48 41.8   +21 50 25     2.471    3.353  148.1    9.0    92   13.5 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   00 48 05.9   +21 45 03     2.480    3.354  147.1    9.2    91   13.6 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   00 47 31.2   +21 39 43     2.488    3.355  146.0    9.5    90   13.6 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   00 46 57.7   +21 34 25     2.497    3.356  145.0    9.7    89   13.6 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   00 46 25.6   +21 29 09     2.506    3.357  144.0   10.0    88   13.6 
2026-11-16 00:00 UT   00 45 54.7   +21 23 56     2.515    3.358  143.0   10.2    87   13.6 
2026-11-17 00:00 UT   00 45 25.1   +21 18 45     2.524    3.358  141.9   10.5    86   13.6 
2026-11-18 00:00 UT   00 44 56.9   +21 13 37     2.534    3.359  140.9   10.7    86   13.7 
2026-11-19 00:00 UT   00 44 30.0   +21 08 32     2.544    3.360  139.9   10.9    85   13.7 
2026-11-20 00:00 UT   00 44 04.4   +21 03 31     2.554    3.361  138.8   11.2    84   13.7 
2026-11-21 00:00 UT   00 43 40.2   +20 58 34     2.564    3.362  137.8   11.4    83   13.7 

    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.