(36) Atalante
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Feb 2026	14.2	3.280 AU	2.780 AU	13h22m	-12°36'	112.0°	16.2°
Opposition	5 Apr 2026	13.4	3.390 AU	2.397 AU	12h44m	-13°29'	172.0°	2.4°

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 Atalante are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3063057
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7446611
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.37428
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.16300
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 47.76897
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 99.55969
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 44.43679
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.49756
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.55            
        

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
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   13 22 24.1   -12 36 56     2.780    3.280  112.0   16.2   293   14.2 
2026-02-05 03:05 UT   13 22 23.6   -12 37 29     2.779    3.280  112.2   16.2   293   14.2 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   13 22 19.8   -12 41 08     2.769    3.282  113.0   16.1   293   14.2 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   13 22 14.1   -12 45 13     2.757    3.284  114.0   15.9   294   14.2 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   13 22 07.2   -12 49 13     2.745    3.286  115.0   15.8   294   14.2 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   13 21 58.9   -12 53 07     2.733    3.288  116.1   15.6   294   14.2 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   13 21 49.3   -12 56 54     2.722    3.290  117.1   15.5   294   14.2 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   13 21 38.3   -13 00 35     2.710    3.292  118.1   15.3   294   14.2 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   13 21 26.0   -13 04 10     2.699    3.294  119.1   15.2   294   14.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   13 21 12.3   -13 07 38     2.688    3.296  120.2   15.0   294   14.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   13 20 57.3   -13 11 00     2.677    3.298  121.2   14.8   295   14.1 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   13 20 41.0   -13 14 15     2.666    3.300  122.2   14.7   295   14.1 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   13 20 23.2   -13 17 24     2.655    3.302  123.3   14.5   295   14.1 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   13 20 04.2   -13 20 26     2.644    3.304  124.3   14.3   295   14.1 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   13 19 43.7   -13 23 21     2.634    3.306  125.4   14.1   295   14.1 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   13 19 22.0   -13 26 09     2.624    3.308  126.5   13.9   296   14.0 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   13 18 58.8   -13 28 50     2.614    3.310  127.5   13.7   296   14.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   13 18 34.4   -13 31 25     2.604    3.312  128.6   13.5   296   14.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   13 18 08.6   -13 33 52     2.594    3.314  129.7   13.3   296   14.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   13 17 41.5   -13 36 12     2.584    3.316  130.8   13.1   296   14.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   13 17 13.1   -13 38 26     2.575    3.318  131.9   12.8   297   14.0 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   13 16 43.4   -13 40 32     2.565    3.320  132.9   12.6   297   14.0 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   13 16 12.5   -13 42 31     2.556    3.322  134.0   12.4   297   13.9 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   13 15 40.3   -13 44 22     2.547    3.324  135.1   12.1   298   13.9 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   13 15 06.8   -13 46 07     2.539    3.326  136.2   11.9   298   13.9 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   13 14 32.1   -13 47 44     2.530    3.327  137.3   11.6   298   13.9 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   13 13 56.2   -13 49 14     2.522    3.329  138.5   11.4   299   13.9 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   13 13 19.1   -13 50 37     2.514    3.331  139.6   11.1   299   13.9 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   13 12 40.8   -13 51 52     2.506    3.333  140.7   10.9   299   13.9 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   13 12 01.4   -13 52 60     2.499    3.335  141.8   10.6   300   13.8 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   13 11 20.8   -13 54 00     2.491    3.337  142.9   10.3   300   13.8 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   13 10 39.1   -13 54 53     2.484    3.339  144.0   10.0   301   13.8 

    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.