(161) Athor
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Jan 2026	13.9	2.700 AU	2.011 AU	11h11m	+15°49'	125.1°	17.3°
Opposition	23 Feb 2026	12.9	2.680 AU	1.700 AU	10h42m	+18°54'	170.1°	3.7°

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 Athor are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1376711
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3799745
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.05134
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 18.43670
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 295.41664
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 181.32450
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -45.86725
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -8.16895
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.67            
        

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
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   11 11 28.2   +15 49 24     2.011    2.700  125.1   17.3   286   13.9 
2026-01-09 09:48 UT   11 11 26.9   +15 50 18     2.007    2.699  125.5   17.2   286   13.9 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   11 11 24.5   +15 51 39     2.000    2.699  126.1   17.1   286   13.9 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   11 11 19.1   +15 54 03     1.989    2.699  127.2   16.9   286   13.8 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   11 11 12.0   +15 56 35     1.977    2.699  128.2   16.6   285   13.8 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   11 11 03.3   +15 59 15     1.966    2.698  129.2   16.4   285   13.8 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   11 10 52.8   +16 02 03     1.956    2.698  130.3   16.1   285   13.8 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   11 10 40.7   +16 04 58     1.945    2.698  131.3   15.9   284   13.8 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   11 10 26.8   +16 08 02     1.934    2.697  132.4   15.6   284   13.7 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   11 10 11.2   +16 11 13     1.924    2.697  133.5   15.4   284   13.7 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   11 09 53.9   +16 14 32     1.914    2.697  134.5   15.1   283   13.7 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   11 09 34.8   +16 17 57     1.904    2.696  135.6   14.8   283   13.7 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   11 09 14.1   +16 21 30     1.894    2.696  136.7   14.5   282   13.7 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   11 08 51.6   +16 25 10     1.885    2.696  137.8   14.2   282   13.6 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   11 08 27.4   +16 28 55     1.875    2.695  138.9   13.9   281   13.6 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   11 08 01.5   +16 32 48     1.866    2.695  139.9   13.6   281   13.6 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   11 07 34.0   +16 36 46     1.857    2.694  141.0   13.3   280   13.6 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   11 07 04.7   +16 40 50     1.848    2.694  142.1   13.0   280   13.5 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   11 06 33.8   +16 44 59     1.840    2.694  143.3   12.6   279   13.5 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   11 06 01.3   +16 49 13     1.831    2.693  144.4   12.3   279   13.5 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   11 05 27.1   +16 53 32     1.823    2.693  145.5   12.0   278   13.5 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   11 04 51.3   +16 57 55     1.815    2.693  146.6   11.6   277   13.5 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   11 04 13.9   +17 02 23     1.807    2.692  147.7   11.3   277   13.4 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   11 03 35.0   +17 06 54     1.800    2.692  148.8   10.9   276   13.4 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   11 02 54.5   +17 11 28     1.793    2.691  149.9   10.6   275   13.4 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   11 02 12.5   +17 16 06     1.786    2.691  151.1   10.2   274   13.4 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   11 01 29.1   +17 20 46     1.779    2.690  152.2    9.8   273   13.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   11 00 44.1   +17 25 29     1.773    2.690  153.3    9.5   272   13.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   10 59 57.8   +17 30 14     1.766    2.690  154.4    9.1   271   13.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   10 59 10.1   +17 34 60     1.760    2.689  155.5    8.7   270   13.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   10 58 21.0   +17 39 47     1.755    2.689  156.6    8.4   268   13.2 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   10 57 30.6   +17 44 35     1.749    2.688  157.7    8.0   267   13.2 

    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.