(41) Daphne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Jan 2026	11.6	2.580 AU	1.743 AU	09h37m	-03°02'	140.7°	14.0°
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
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   09 37 36.7   -03 02 43     1.743    2.580  140.7   14.0   311   11.6 
2026-01-12 16:48 UT   09 37 18.4   -03 01 37     1.736    2.578  141.4   13.8   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 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   09 32 12.9   -02 34 49     1.647    2.551  150.7   10.9   321   11.4 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   09 31 33.7   -02 30 33     1.639    2.548  151.7   10.5   322   11.4 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   09 30 53.4   -02 26 01     1.630    2.546  152.7   10.2   324   11.3 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   09 30 12.0   -02 21 12     1.623    2.543  153.7    9.9   325   11.3 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   09 29 29.7   -02 16 07     1.615    2.540  154.6    9.6   327   11.3 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   09 28 46.4   -02 10 46     1.608    2.537  155.5    9.2   329   11.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   09 28 02.2   -02 05 09     1.600    2.534  156.5    8.9   331   11.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   09 27 17.1   -01 59 16     1.594    2.531  157.3    8.6   333   11.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   09 26 31.2   -01 53 07     1.587    2.528  158.2    8.3   335   11.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   09 25 44.6   -01 46 42     1.581    2.525  159.0    8.0   338   11.1 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   09 24 57.3   -01 40 03     1.574    2.522  159.9    7.7   340   11.1 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   09 24 09.3   -01 33 08     1.569    2.519  160.6    7.5   343   11.1 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   09 23 20.8   -01 25 58     1.563    2.517  161.3    7.2   346   11.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   09 22 31.7   -01 18 33     1.558    2.514  162.0    7.0   350   11.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   09 21 42.1   -01 10 53     1.553    2.511  162.6    6.7   353   11.0 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   09 20 52.2   -01 02 60     1.548    2.508  163.1    6.5   357   11.0 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   09 20 01.9   +00 54 52     1.543    2.505  163.6    6.4     1   11.0 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   09 19 11.3   +00 46 31     1.539    2.502  164.0    6.2     5   11.0 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   09 18 20.5   +00 37 56     1.535    2.499  164.3    6.1    10   11.0 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   09 17 29.5   +00 29 08     1.531    2.496  164.5    6.1    14   11.0 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   09 16 38.5   +00 20 08     1.528    2.493  164.6    6.0    19   11.0 

    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.