(65) Cybele
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Feb 2026	11.9	3.335 AU	2.434 AU	12h01m	+01°21'	151.2°	8.2°
Opposition	16 Mar 2026	11.3	3.305 AU	2.311 AU	11h46m	+03°23'	178.2°	0.5°

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 Cybele are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1277298
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.4076673
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.56495
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 155.09879
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 104.13943
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 272.63268
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 79.26453
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.45681
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 6.29            
        

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
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   12 01 24.2   +01 21 34     2.434    3.335  151.2    8.2   291   11.9 
2026-02-20 16:27 UT   12 01 05.1   +01 24 26     2.428    3.334  152.0    8.0   291   11.9 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   12 00 56.2   +01 25 46     2.426    3.333  152.3    7.9   291   11.9 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   12 00 27.2   +01 30 03     2.418    3.332  153.5    7.6   291   11.9 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   11 59 57.3   +01 34 25     2.410    3.331  154.6    7.3   290   11.9 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   11 59 26.6   +01 38 53     2.403    3.330  155.8    7.0   290   11.9 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   11 58 55.0   +01 43 26     2.395    3.329  156.9    6.7   290   11.8 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   11 58 22.7   +01 48 04     2.388    3.327  158.1    6.4   290   11.8 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   11 57 49.5   +01 52 47     2.382    3.326  159.2    6.1   289   11.8 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   11 57 15.6   +01 57 34     2.375    3.325  160.4    5.7   289   11.8 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   11 56 41.0   +02 02 26     2.369    3.324  161.6    5.4   289   11.8 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   11 56 05.7   +02 07 21     2.363    3.323  162.7    5.1   288   11.7 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   11 55 29.8   +02 12 20     2.358    3.321  163.9    4.8   288   11.7 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   11 54 53.2   +02 17 23     2.352    3.320  165.1    4.4   287   11.7 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   11 54 16.1   +02 22 29     2.347    3.319  166.2    4.1   287   11.7 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   11 53 38.4   +02 27 38     2.343    3.318  167.4    3.7   286   11.6 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   11 53 00.2   +02 32 50     2.338    3.317  168.6    3.4   285   11.6 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   11 52 21.5   +02 38 04     2.334    3.315  169.7    3.1   284   11.6 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   11 51 42.3   +02 43 20     2.330    3.314  170.9    2.7   283   11.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   11 51 02.8   +02 48 38     2.327    3.313  172.0    2.4   281   11.5 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   11 50 22.9   +02 53 58     2.323    3.312  173.2    2.0   279   11.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   11 49 42.6   +02 59 19     2.320    3.311  174.3    1.7   276   11.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   11 49 02.1   +03 04 41     2.318    3.309  175.4    1.4   271   11.4 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   11 48 21.4   +03 10 04     2.315    3.308  176.5    1.0   263   11.4 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   11 47 40.4   +03 15 28     2.313    3.307  177.5    0.8   249   11.4 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   11 46 59.3   +03 20 51     2.312    3.306  178.1    0.6   223   11.4 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   11 46 18.1   +03 26 14     2.310    3.305  178.1    0.6   186   11.4 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   11 45 36.8   +03 31 36     2.309    3.303  177.5    0.8   160   11.4 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   11 44 55.5   +03 36 58     2.308    3.302  176.6    1.0   145   11.4 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   11 44 14.2   +03 42 19     2.307    3.301  175.5    1.4   137   11.4 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   11 43 33.0   +03 47 37     2.307    3.300  174.4    1.7   133   11.5 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   11 42 51.9   +03 52 55     2.307    3.299  173.3    2.0   129   11.5 

    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.