(182) Elsa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jun 2026	13.2	2.659 AU	1.769 AU	20h06m	-20°13'	144.0°	13.0°
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)                : 0.1863813
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4163026
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.00559
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.16313
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.58155
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 244.86841
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 57.76203
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -1.52308
            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
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   20 06 41.9   -20 13 20     1.769    2.659  144.0   13.0   258   13.2 
2026-06-15 14:34 UT   20 06 23.8   -20 14 39     1.763    2.658  144.7   12.8   258   13.2 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   20 06 11.8   -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 47     1.750    2.655  146.2   12.3   258   13.1 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   20 05 07.0   -20 20 07     1.742    2.654  147.3   11.9   258   13.1 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   20 04 32.2   -20 22 33     1.733    2.652  148.4   11.6   258   13.1 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   20 03 55.9   -20 25 02     1.725    2.651  149.5   11.2   258   13.1 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   20 03 18.1   -20 27 36     1.716    2.649  150.6   10.9   258   13.0 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   20 02 38.7   -20 30 15     1.708    2.647  151.7   10.5   258   13.0 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   20 01 58.0   -20 32 57     1.701    2.646  152.8   10.1   258   13.0 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   20 01 15.8   -20 35 43     1.693    2.644  154.0    9.7   259   13.0 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   20 00 32.2   -20 38 32     1.686    2.643  155.1    9.3   259   12.9 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   19 59 47.2   -20 41 25     1.679    2.641  156.2    8.9   259   12.9 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   19 59 00.9   -20 44 21     1.672    2.639  157.4    8.5   259   12.9 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   19 58 13.3   -20 47 21     1.665    2.638  158.5    8.1   259   12.9 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   19 57 24.5   -20 50 23     1.659    2.636  159.7    7.7   259   12.8 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   19 56 34.5   -20 53 28     1.653    2.634  160.8    7.3   259   12.8 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   19 55 43.2   -20 56 35     1.647    2.633  162.0    6.9   259   12.8 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   19 54 50.9   -20 59 44     1.642    2.631  163.1    6.4   260   12.7 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   19 53 57.4   -21 02 56     1.636    2.629  164.3    6.0   260   12.7 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   19 53 03.0   -21 06 09     1.631    2.628  165.5    5.6   260   12.7 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   19 52 07.5   -21 09 24     1.626    2.626  166.7    5.1   260   12.6 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   19 51 11.2   -21 12 40     1.622    2.624  167.8    4.7   260   12.6 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   19 50 13.9   -21 15 57     1.618    2.623  169.0    4.2   261   12.6 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   19 49 15.8   -21 19 16     1.613    2.621  170.2    3.8   261   12.6 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   19 48 17.0   -21 22 35     1.610    2.619  171.4    3.3   261   12.5 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   19 47 17.5   -21 25 54     1.606    2.618  172.6    2.9   262   12.5 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   19 46 17.4   -21 29 14     1.603    2.616  173.8    2.4   262   12.5 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   19 45 16.7   -21 32 33     1.600    2.614  175.0    2.0   263   12.4 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   19 44 15.5   -21 35 53     1.597    2.612  176.2    1.5   265   12.4 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   19 43 13.9   -21 39 11     1.595    2.611  177.3    1.0   267   12.3 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   19 42 11.9   -21 42 29     1.593    2.609  178.5    0.6   274   12.3 

    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.