(41) Daphne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	10 Feb 2026	11.0	2.495 AU	1.530 AU	09h17m	-00°24'	164.6°	6.0°
Today	9 Apr 2026	11.7	2.333 AU	1.727 AU	08h56m	+09°16'	114.9°	22.9°

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
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   08 56 47.1   +09 16 07     1.727    2.333  114.9   22.9   103   11.7 
2026-04-09 15:19 UT   08 57 03.7   +09 20 43     1.732    2.331  114.4   23.0   103   11.7 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   08 57 13.5   +09 23 18     1.735    2.330  114.0   23.1   103   11.7 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   08 57 41.5   +09 30 18     1.744    2.328  113.2   23.3   103   11.7 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   08 58 11.3   +09 37 07     1.752    2.325  112.3   23.5   103   11.7 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   08 58 42.7   +09 43 45     1.761    2.322  111.4   23.7   104   11.8 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   08 59 15.8   +09 50 12     1.769    2.320  110.5   23.9   104   11.8 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   08 59 50.5   +09 56 28     1.778    2.317  109.7   24.1   104   11.8 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   09 00 26.8   +10 02 34     1.787    2.314  108.8   24.2   104   11.8 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   09 01 04.7   +10 08 28     1.795    2.312  108.0   24.4   104   11.8 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   09 01 44.2   +10 14 11     1.804    2.309  107.1   24.5   105   11.8 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   09 02 25.3   +10 19 43     1.813    2.306  106.3   24.7   105   11.8 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   09 03 07.9   +10 25 04     1.822    2.304  105.5   24.8   105   11.8 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   09 03 52.1   +10 30 13     1.831    2.301  104.7   25.0   105   11.9 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   09 04 37.7   +10 35 12     1.840    2.298  103.9   25.1   105   11.9 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   09 05 24.9   +10 39 59     1.849    2.296  103.1   25.2   105   11.9 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   09 06 13.5   +10 44 36     1.859    2.293  102.3   25.4   106   11.9 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   09 07 03.6   +10 49 01     1.868    2.291  101.5   25.5   106   11.9 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   09 07 55.0   +10 53 15     1.877    2.288  100.7   25.6   106   11.9 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   09 08 47.9   +10 57 19     1.886    2.285   99.9   25.7   106   11.9 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   09 09 42.1   +11 01 11     1.896    2.283   99.1   25.8   106   11.9 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   09 10 37.7   +11 04 53     1.905    2.280   98.4   25.9   106   11.9 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   09 11 34.6   +11 08 24     1.914    2.278   97.6   26.0   107   12.0 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   09 12 32.8   +11 11 44     1.924    2.275   96.8   26.1   107   12.0 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   09 13 32.3   +11 14 53     1.933    2.273   96.1   26.2   107   12.0 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   09 14 33.1   +11 17 52     1.942    2.270   95.3   26.2   107   12.0 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   09 15 35.1   +11 20 40     1.952    2.268   94.6   26.3   107   12.0 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   09 16 38.3   +11 23 17     1.961    2.265   93.9   26.4   107   12.0 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   09 17 42.7   +11 25 44     1.971    2.262   93.1   26.4   107   12.0 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   09 18 48.3   +11 28 01     1.980    2.260   92.4   26.5   108   12.0 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   09 19 55.1   +11 30 07     1.989    2.257   91.7   26.5   108   12.0 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   09 21 03.1   +11 32 02     1.999    2.255   91.0   26.6   108   12.1 

    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.