(36) Atalante
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Aug 2026	15.1	3.542 AU	3.924 AU	12h46m	-14°59'	60.8°	14.5°
Opposition	29 May 2027	13.7	3.467 AU	2.517 AU	16h02m	-45°20'	155.8°	6.9°

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)                : 0.3061958
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7446792
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.37359
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.16227
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 47.75950
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 142.93684
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 44.42667
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.49500
            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
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   12 46 06.3   -14 59 27     3.924    3.542   60.8   14.5   118   15.1 
2026-08-09 10:43 UT   12 46 29.8   -15 01 54     3.930    3.543   60.5   14.4   119   15.1 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   12 46 59.0   -15 04 55     3.938    3.543   60.1   14.4   119   15.1 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   12 47 52.3   -15 10 26     3.951    3.544   59.4   14.3   119   15.1 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   12 48 46.0   -15 16 01     3.964    3.545   58.7   14.1   119   15.1 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   12 49 40.2   -15 21 38     3.977    3.546   58.0   14.0   119   15.1 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   12 50 34.8   -15 27 18     3.990    3.546   57.3   13.9   119   15.1 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   12 51 29.8   -15 33 01     4.003    3.547   56.6   13.8   119   15.1 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   12 52 25.3   -15 38 47     4.015    3.548   55.9   13.7   119   15.1 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   12 53 21.3   -15 44 36     4.028    3.548   55.2   13.5   120   15.1 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   12 54 17.6   -15 50 28     4.040    3.549   54.5   13.4   120   15.1 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   12 55 14.3   -15 56 22     4.053    3.550   53.8   13.3   120   15.1 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   12 56 11.5   -16 02 20     4.065    3.551   53.1   13.2   120   15.1 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   12 57 09.0   -16 08 19     4.077    3.551   52.4   13.0   120   15.1 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   12 58 07.0   -16 14 22     4.089    3.552   51.7   12.9   120   15.1 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   12 59 05.3   -16 20 26     4.101    3.553   51.0   12.8   121   15.1 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   13 00 04.0   -16 26 34     4.113    3.553   50.3   12.6   121   15.1 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   13 01 03.1   -16 32 43     4.124    3.554   49.6   12.5   121   15.1 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   13 02 02.6   -16 38 56     4.136    3.555   48.9   12.4   121   15.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   13 03 02.4   -16 45 10     4.147    3.555   48.3   12.2   121   15.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   13 04 02.6   -16 51 27     4.158    3.556   47.6   12.1   121   15.1 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   13 05 03.1   -16 57 46     4.169    3.557   46.9   12.0   122   15.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   13 06 04.0   -17 04 07     4.180    3.557   46.2   11.8   122   15.1 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   13 07 05.3   -17 10 30     4.191    3.558   45.5   11.7   122   15.1 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   13 08 06.8   -17 16 56     4.202    3.558   44.9   11.5   122   15.1 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   13 09 08.8   -17 23 23     4.212    3.559   44.2   11.4   122   15.1 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   13 10 11.0   -17 29 53     4.223    3.560   43.5   11.3   123   15.1 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   13 11 13.6   -17 36 24     4.233    3.560   42.8   11.1   123   15.1 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   13 12 16.6   -17 42 58     4.243    3.561   42.2   11.0   123   15.1 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   13 13 19.8   -17 49 33     4.253    3.561   41.5   10.8   123   15.1 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   13 14 23.4   -17 56 11     4.263    3.562   40.8   10.7   123   15.1 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   13 15 27.3   -18 02 50     4.273    3.563   40.2   10.5   124   15.1 

    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.