(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	25 Feb 2026	11.0	2.453 AU	1.510 AU	09h05m	+02°03'	157.4°	8.9°

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
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   09 05 16.1   +02 03 10     1.510    2.453  157.4    8.9    70   11.0 
2026-02-25 20:33 UT   09 04 38.7   +02 12 40     1.510    2.451  156.7    9.2    72   11.0 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   09 04 32.5   +02 14 16     1.510    2.450  156.5    9.3    73   11.0 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   09 03 49.9   +02 25 25     1.511    2.447  155.6    9.6    75   11.1 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   09 03 08.3   +02 36 37     1.512    2.445  154.7   10.0    76   11.1 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   09 02 27.9   +02 47 52     1.514    2.442  153.7   10.4    78   11.1 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   09 01 48.7   +02 59 09     1.516    2.439  152.7   10.7    80   11.1 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   09 01 10.7   +03 10 27     1.518    2.436  151.7   11.1    81   11.1 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   09 00 34.0   +03 21 47     1.520    2.433  150.7   11.5    82   11.1 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   08 59 58.6   +03 33 06     1.522    2.430  149.7   11.9    84   11.1 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   08 59 24.6   +03 44 25     1.525    2.427  148.7   12.3    85   11.2 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   08 58 51.9   +03 55 44     1.528    2.425  147.6   12.7    86   11.2 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   08 58 20.8   +04 07 01     1.531    2.422  146.6   13.0    87   11.2 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   08 57 51.1   +04 18 16     1.534    2.419  145.6   13.4    88   11.2 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   08 57 22.9   +04 29 30     1.538    2.416  144.5   13.8    89   11.2 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   08 56 56.3   +04 40 40     1.542    2.413  143.5   14.2    90   11.2 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   08 56 31.3   +04 51 47     1.546    2.410  142.4   14.6    91   11.3 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   08 56 07.9   +05 02 51     1.550    2.408  141.4   14.9    91   11.3 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   08 55 46.2   +05 13 50     1.554    2.405  140.4   15.3    92   11.3 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   08 55 26.1   +05 24 45     1.559    2.402  139.3   15.7    93   11.3 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   08 55 07.8   +05 35 34     1.564    2.399  138.3   16.0    93   11.3 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   08 54 51.1   +05 46 18     1.569    2.396  137.2   16.4    94   11.3 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   08 54 36.3   +05 56 57     1.574    2.394  136.2   16.7    95   11.4 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   08 54 23.2   +06 07 29     1.579    2.391  135.2   17.1    95   11.4 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   08 54 11.9   +06 17 54     1.585    2.388  134.2   17.4    96   11.4 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   08 54 02.4   +06 28 12     1.591    2.385  133.1   17.7    96   11.4 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   08 53 54.7   +06 38 23     1.597    2.382  132.1   18.1    97   11.4 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   08 53 48.9   +06 48 26     1.603    2.380  131.1   18.4    97   11.4 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   08 53 44.9   +06 58 21     1.609    2.377  130.1   18.7    97   11.5 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   08 53 42.7   +07 08 08     1.615    2.374  129.1   19.0    98   11.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   08 53 42.3   +07 17 47     1.622    2.371  128.1   19.3    98   11.5 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   08 53 43.8   +07 27 17     1.629    2.369  127.2   19.6    99   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.