(516) Amherstia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	4 Oct 2026	13.3	3.313 AU	2.368 AU	01h21m	+24°34'	157.1°	6.7°
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)                : 0.2757442
            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
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   01 21 10.8   +24 34 07     2.368    3.313  157.1    6.7   208   13.3 
2026-10-04 00:01 UT   01 21 10.7   +24 34 07     2.368    3.313  157.1    6.7   208   13.3 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   01 20 15.4   +24 32 02     2.365    3.314  158.0    6.5   206   13.3 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   01 19 19.7   +24 29 46     2.363    3.315  158.8    6.3   204   13.3 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   01 18 23.6   +24 27 21     2.361    3.316  159.6    6.0   201   13.3 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   01 17 27.2   +24 24 46     2.359    3.317  160.3    5.8   198   13.3 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   01 16 30.6   +24 22 01     2.358    3.319  161.1    5.6   195   13.3 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   01 15 33.8   +24 19 07     2.356    3.320  161.7    5.4   192   13.2 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   01 14 36.8   +24 16 03     2.355    3.321  162.3    5.2   189   13.2 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   01 13 39.8   +24 12 51     2.355    3.322  162.9    5.1   185   13.2 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   01 12 42.7   +24 09 30     2.354    3.323  163.4    4.9   181   13.2 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   01 11 45.7   +24 05 60     2.354    3.324  163.8    4.8   177   13.2 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   01 10 48.8   +24 02 21     2.355    3.325  164.1    4.7   173   13.2 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   01 09 52.0   +23 58 35     2.355    3.326  164.4    4.6   168   13.2 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   01 08 55.4   +23 54 41     2.356    3.328  164.6    4.6   164   13.2 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   01 07 59.1   +23 50 39     2.357    3.329  164.6    4.5   159   13.2 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   01 07 03.1   +23 46 30     2.359    3.330  164.6    4.5   155   13.2 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   01 06 07.4   +23 42 14     2.360    3.331  164.5    4.6   150   13.2 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   01 05 12.1   +23 37 52     2.362    3.332  164.3    4.6   145   13.2 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   01 04 17.3   +23 33 23     2.365    3.333  164.0    4.7   141   13.2 
2026-10-23 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 

    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.