(409) Aspasia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	9 Jul 2026	10.8	2.446 AU	1.447 AU	19h09m	-08°39'	166.3°	5.7°
Today	12 Aug 2026	11.5	2.468 AU	1.602 AU	18h44m	-08°46'	140.3°	15.2°

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 Aspasia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0734781
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5755624
            i (Inclination)                 : 11.28422
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 242.05128
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 355.71959
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 36.62705
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 237.85332
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.83682
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.13            
        

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
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   18 44 58.1   -08 46 07     1.602    2.468  140.3   15.2   103   11.5 
2026-08-12 11:21 UT   18 44 48.1   -08 46 60     1.606    2.468  139.8   15.4   103   11.5 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   18 44 37.5   -08 47 60     1.610    2.469  139.3   15.5   103   11.5 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   18 44 18.5   -08 49 56     1.619    2.469  138.3   15.8   102   11.5 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   18 44 01.3   -08 51 56     1.627    2.470  137.4   16.1   101   11.5 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   18 43 45.8   -08 53 60     1.636    2.471  136.4   16.4   101   11.6 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   18 43 32.0   -08 56 06     1.645    2.471  135.5   16.7   100   11.6 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   18 43 19.9   -08 58 15     1.654    2.472  134.5   17.0   100   11.6 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   18 43 09.5   -09 00 27     1.664    2.473  133.6   17.2    99   11.6 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   18 43 00.9   -09 02 41     1.673    2.473  132.7   17.5    99   11.7 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   18 42 53.9   -09 04 57     1.683    2.474  131.7   17.8    98   11.7 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   18 42 48.7   -09 07 15     1.692    2.475  130.8   18.0    98   11.7 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   18 42 45.2   -09 09 35     1.702    2.476  129.9   18.3    98   11.7 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   18 42 43.5   -09 11 56     1.712    2.476  129.0   18.5    97   11.7 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   18 42 43.4   -09 14 19     1.722    2.477  128.0   18.7    97   11.8 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   18 42 45.0   -09 16 43     1.733    2.478  127.1   19.0    96   11.8 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   18 42 48.3   -09 19 09     1.743    2.478  126.2   19.2    96   11.8 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   18 42 53.3   -09 21 35     1.754    2.479  125.3   19.4    96   11.8 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   18 42 60.0   -09 24 01     1.764    2.480  124.4   19.6    95   11.8 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   18 43 08.3   -09 26 29     1.775    2.480  123.6   19.8    95   11.9 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   18 43 18.2   -09 28 56     1.786    2.481  122.7   20.0    94   11.9 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   18 43 29.8   -09 31 24     1.797    2.482  121.8   20.2    94   11.9 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   18 43 43.0   -09 33 53     1.808    2.483  120.9   20.4    94   11.9 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   18 43 57.8   -09 36 21     1.819    2.483  120.1   20.6    93   11.9 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   18 44 14.2   -09 38 48     1.831    2.484  119.2   20.8    93   12.0 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   18 44 32.2   -09 41 16     1.842    2.485  118.3   20.9    93   12.0 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   18 44 51.8   -09 43 43     1.854    2.485  117.5   21.1    92   12.0 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   18 45 12.9   -09 46 09     1.865    2.486  116.6   21.2    92   12.0 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   18 45 35.6   -09 48 34     1.877    2.487  115.8   21.4    92   12.0 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   18 45 59.8   -09 50 59     1.889    2.488  114.9   21.5    92   12.1 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   18 46 25.5   -09 53 22     1.901    2.488  114.1   21.7    91   12.1 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   18 46 52.7   -09 55 44     1.913    2.489  113.3   21.8    91   12.1 

    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.