(36) Atalante
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Mar 2026	13.7	3.348 AU	2.452 AU	13h06m	-13°57'	149.7°	8.6°
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
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   13 06 54.9   -13 57 26     2.452    3.348  149.7    8.6   303   13.7 
2026-03-12 08:26 UT   13 06 38.3   -13 57 30     2.450    3.348  150.1    8.5   304   13.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   13 06 07.2   -13 57 35     2.447    3.350  150.8    8.3   304   13.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   13 05 18.5   -13 57 36     2.441    3.351  152.0    8.0   305   13.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   13 04 28.9   -13 57 29     2.436    3.353  153.1    7.7   306   13.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   13 03 38.5   -13 57 16     2.431    3.355  154.2    7.4   307   13.6 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   13 02 47.3   -13 56 55     2.427    3.357  155.3    7.1   308   13.6 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   13 01 55.4   -13 56 27     2.423    3.359  156.5    6.8   309   13.6 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   13 01 02.7   -13 55 52     2.419    3.360  157.6    6.5   310   13.6 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   13 00 09.4   -13 55 10     2.415    3.362  158.7    6.2   311   13.6 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   12 59 15.5   -13 54 22     2.411    3.364  159.8    5.9   312   13.6 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   12 58 21.0   -13 53 27     2.408    3.366  160.9    5.6   314   13.5 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   12 57 25.9   -13 52 25     2.406    3.367  162.0    5.3   316   13.5 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   12 56 30.4   -13 51 17     2.403    3.369  163.1    4.9   317   13.5 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   12 55 34.4   -13 50 02     2.401    3.371  164.1    4.6   320   13.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   12 54 38.1   -13 48 42     2.399    3.373  165.1    4.3   322   13.5 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   12 53 41.4   -13 47 16     2.397    3.374  166.1    4.1   325   13.5 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   12 52 44.5   -13 45 44     2.396    3.376  167.1    3.8   328   13.4 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   12 51 47.3   -13 44 06     2.395    3.378  168.0    3.5   332   13.4 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   12 50 49.9   -13 42 23     2.394    3.379  168.9    3.3   336   13.4 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   12 49 52.4   -13 40 35     2.394    3.381  169.7    3.0   341   13.4 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   12 48 54.8   -13 38 41     2.394    3.383  170.4    2.8   347   13.4 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   12 47 57.1   -13 36 43     2.394    3.384  171.0    2.6   353   13.4 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   12 46 59.4   -13 34 41     2.394    3.386  171.5    2.5     1   13.4 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   12 46 01.8   -13 32 34     2.395    3.388  171.8    2.4     9   13.4 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   12 45 04.3   -13 30 22     2.396    3.389  172.0    2.4    17   13.4 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   12 44 07.0   -13 28 07     2.398    3.391  172.0    2.4    26   13.4 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   12 43 09.8   -13 25 48     2.399    3.393  171.8    2.4    35   13.4 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   12 42 12.8   -13 23 25     2.401    3.394  171.4    2.5    43   13.4 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   12 41 16.2   -13 20 59     2.404    3.396  170.9    2.7    50   13.4 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   12 40 19.9   -13 18 30     2.406    3.398  170.2    2.9    56   13.4 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   12 39 23.9   -13 15 58     2.409    3.399  169.5    3.1    62   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.