(182) Elsa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 May 2026	13.8	2.701 AU	2.094 AU	20h09m	-19°48'	116.4°	19.6°
Opposition	15 Jul 2026	12.2	2.608 AU	1.592 AU	19h41m	-21°44'	179.1°	0.4°

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 Elsa are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1865242
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4160819
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.00559
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.16299
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.57890
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 192.39694
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 57.75924
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -1.52314
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.76            
        

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
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   20 09 39.1   -19 48 22     2.094    2.701  116.4   19.6   258   13.8 
2026-05-18 10:58 UT   20 09 46.2   -19 48 13     2.088    2.700  116.8   19.5   258   13.8 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   20 09 54.1   -19 48 04     2.081    2.699  117.3   19.4   258   13.8 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   20 10 07.6   -19 47 50     2.068    2.698  118.2   19.3   258   13.8 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   20 10 19.6   -19 47 42     2.054    2.696  119.2   19.1   257   13.8 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   20 10 30.1   -19 47 39     2.041    2.695  120.1   19.0   257   13.7 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   20 10 39.1   -19 47 41     2.028    2.694  121.0   18.8   257   13.7 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   20 10 46.5   -19 47 49     2.015    2.692  121.9   18.6   257   13.7 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   20 10 52.3   -19 48 01     2.003    2.691  122.9   18.4   257   13.7 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   20 10 56.6   -19 48 19     1.990    2.689  123.8   18.2   257   13.7 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   20 10 59.4   -19 48 42     1.978    2.688  124.8   18.0   257   13.6 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   20 11 00.5   -19 49 11     1.965    2.686  125.7   17.8   257   13.6 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   20 11 00.1   -19 49 45     1.953    2.685  126.7   17.6   257   13.6 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   20 10 58.0   -19 50 24     1.941    2.683  127.7   17.4   257   13.6 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   20 10 54.4   -19 51 09     1.929    2.682  128.6   17.2   257   13.5 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   20 10 49.1   -19 51 60     1.917    2.680  129.6   16.9   257   13.5 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   20 10 42.2   -19 52 55     1.906    2.679  130.6   16.7   257   13.5 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   20 10 33.7   -19 53 57     1.894    2.677  131.6   16.5   257   13.5 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   20 10 23.5   -19 55 04     1.883    2.676  132.6   16.2   258   13.5 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   20 10 11.6   -19 56 16     1.871    2.674  133.6   15.9   258   13.4 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   20 09 58.1   -19 57 34     1.860    2.673  134.6   15.7   258   13.4 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   20 09 43.0   -19 58 57     1.849    2.671  135.7   15.4   258   13.4 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   20 09 26.2   -20 00 26     1.839    2.669  136.7   15.1   258   13.4 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   20 09 07.7   -20 02 01     1.828    2.668  137.7   14.8   258   13.3 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   20 08 47.5   -20 03 41     1.818    2.666  138.8   14.5   258   13.3 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   20 08 25.7   -20 05 26     1.808    2.665  139.8   14.2   258   13.3 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   20 08 02.2   -20 07 16     1.798    2.663  140.9   13.9   258   13.3 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   20 07 37.1   -20 09 12     1.788    2.662  141.9   13.6   258   13.2 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   20 07 10.3   -20 11 13     1.778    2.660  143.0   13.3   258   13.2 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   20 06 41.9   -20 13 19     1.769    2.659  144.0   13.0   258   13.2 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   20 06 11.9   -20 15 31     1.759    2.657  145.1   12.6   258   13.2 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   20 05 40.2   -20 17 46     1.750    2.655  146.2   12.3   258   13.1 

    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.