(41) Daphne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Dec 2025	12.2	2.641 AU	2.006 AU	09h41m	-02°43'	120.2°	18.8°
Opposition	10 Feb 2026	11.0	2.495 AU	1.530 AU	09h17m	-00°24'	164.6°	6.0°

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 Daphne are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2704420
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7686580
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.72829
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 177.61962
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 46.91596
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 288.43727
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 223.44367
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 11.41891
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61            
        

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
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   09 41 11.3   -02 43 38     2.006    2.641  120.2   18.8   299   12.2 
2025-12-22 10:20 UT   09 41 13.4   -02 44 54     2.000    2.640  120.6   18.7   299   12.2 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   09 41 15.8   -02 46 32     1.992    2.638  121.1   18.6   300   12.1 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   09 41 18.8   -02 49 16     1.978    2.635  122.1   18.4   300   12.1 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   09 41 20.3   -02 51 50     1.964    2.633  123.0   18.3   300   12.1 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   09 41 20.4   -02 54 12     1.951    2.630  123.9   18.1   301   12.1 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   09 41 19.1   -02 56 23     1.937    2.627  124.9   17.9   301   12.0 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   09 41 16.3   -02 58 23     1.924    2.624  125.8   17.7   302   12.0 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   09 41 12.0   -03 00 11     1.911    2.621  126.8   17.5   302   12.0 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   09 41 06.2   -03 01 47     1.898    2.618  127.8   17.3   303   12.0 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   09 40 59.0   -03 03 12     1.885    2.615  128.7   17.1   303   11.9 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   09 40 50.2   -03 04 23     1.872    2.612  129.7   16.8   304   11.9 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   09 40 40.0   -03 05 22     1.860    2.609  130.7   16.6   304   11.9 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   09 40 28.3   -03 06 08     1.847    2.606  131.7   16.4   305   11.9 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   09 40 15.2   -03 06 41     1.835    2.604  132.6   16.1   305   11.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   09 40 00.5   -03 07 01     1.823    2.601  133.6   15.9   306   11.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   09 39 44.4   -03 07 07     1.811    2.598  134.6   15.6   306   11.8 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   09 39 26.8   -03 06 59     1.799    2.595  135.6   15.4   307   11.8 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   09 39 07.7   -03 06 37     1.788    2.592  136.6   15.1   308   11.7 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   09 38 47.1   -03 06 01     1.776    2.589  137.6   14.8   308   11.7 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   09 38 25.1   -03 05 10     1.765    2.586  138.6   14.6   309   11.7 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   09 38 01.6   -03 04 04     1.754    2.583  139.6   14.3   310   11.7 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   09 37 36.7   -03 02 43     1.743    2.580  140.7   14.0   311   11.6 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   09 37 10.3   -03 01 07     1.733    2.577  141.7   13.7   311   11.6 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   09 36 42.6   -02 59 15     1.722    2.575  142.7   13.4   312   11.6 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   09 36 13.5   -02 57 08     1.712    2.572  143.7   13.1   313   11.6 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   09 35 43.0   -02 54 45     1.702    2.569  144.7   12.8   314   11.5 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   09 35 11.1   -02 52 06     1.692    2.566  145.7   12.5   315   11.5 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   09 34 38.0   -02 49 11     1.683    2.563  146.7   12.2   316   11.5 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   09 34 03.5   -02 46 00     1.674    2.560  147.7   11.8   317   11.5 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   09 33 27.9   -02 42 33     1.664    2.557  148.7   11.5   318   11.4 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   09 32 51.0   -02 38 49     1.656    2.554  149.7   11.2   319   11.4 

    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.