(198) Ampella
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Jan 2026	13.5	2.377 AU	3.310 AU	17h55m	-24°05'	15.4°	6.3°
Opposition	12 Sep 2026	10.4	1.903 AU	0.924 AU	22h51m	+13°39'	160.7°	10.1°

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 Ampella are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2272165
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4590690
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.32321
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 268.20185
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 89.03835
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 279.82793
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 357.22733
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 9.32189
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.86            
        

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
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   17 55 01.5   -24 05 55     3.310    2.377   15.4    6.3   268   13.5 
2026-01-05 05:58 UT   17 55 33.2   -24 05 31     3.309    2.376   15.6    6.4   268   13.5 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   17 57 08.9   -24 04 17     3.304    2.374   16.0    6.5   268   13.5 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   17 59 16.4   -24 02 33     3.298    2.372   16.5    6.8   268   13.5 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   18 01 23.9   -24 00 42     3.292    2.369   17.0    7.0   268   13.5 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   18 03 31.5   -23 58 44     3.286    2.367   17.6    7.2   268   13.5 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   18 05 39.1   -23 56 39     3.279    2.364   18.1    7.4   268   13.5 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   18 07 46.8   -23 54 27     3.273    2.362   18.6    7.6   268   13.5 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   18 09 54.5   -23 52 08     3.266    2.359   19.2    7.9   268   13.5 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   18 12 02.2   -23 49 43     3.259    2.357   19.7    8.1   268   13.5 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   18 14 09.9   -23 47 10     3.252    2.354   20.2    8.3   268   13.5 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   18 16 17.6   -23 44 30     3.245    2.351   20.7    8.5   267   13.5 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   18 18 25.4   -23 41 44     3.238    2.349   21.3    8.7   267   13.5 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   18 20 33.1   -23 38 50     3.231    2.346   21.8    9.0   267   13.5 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   18 22 40.8   -23 35 50     3.224    2.344   22.3    9.2   267   13.5 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   18 24 48.5   -23 32 42     3.216    2.341   22.9    9.4   267   13.5 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   18 26 56.2   -23 29 27     3.209    2.339   23.4    9.6   267   13.5 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   18 29 03.9   -23 26 06     3.201    2.336   23.9    9.8   267   13.5 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   18 31 11.5   -23 22 37     3.194    2.333   24.4   10.1   267   13.6 

    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.