(182) Elsa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Jul 2025	14.5	2.843 AU	2.626 AU	13h21m	-06°26'	91.6°	20.9°
Opposition	15 Jul 2026	12.3	2.608 AU	1.591 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)                : 0.1866671
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4157669
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.00556
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.16406
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.55611
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 139.93057
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 57.73751
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -1.52363
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.75            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   13 21 16.5   -06 26 30     2.626    2.843   91.6   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-12 06:20 UT   13 21 27.1   -06 27 47     2.630    2.843   91.4   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   13 21 56.8   -06 31 22     2.640    2.843   90.8   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   13 22 38.0   -06 36 19     2.654    2.844   90.1   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   13 23 20.0   -06 41 20     2.669    2.844   89.3   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   13 24 02.9   -06 46 25     2.683    2.845   88.6   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   13 24 46.7   -06 51 35     2.697    2.845   87.8   20.9   112   14.5 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   13 25 31.3   -06 56 49     2.711    2.846   87.1   20.9   112   14.6 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   13 26 16.8   -07 02 07     2.725    2.847   86.3   20.9   112   14.6 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   13 27 03.2   -07 07 29     2.739    2.847   85.6   20.8   112   14.6 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   13 27 50.3   -07 12 55     2.753    2.848   84.8   20.8   111   14.6 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   13 28 38.3   -07 18 25     2.767    2.848   84.1   20.8   111   14.6 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   13 29 27.0   -07 23 59     2.781    2.849   83.4   20.7   111   14.6 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   13 30 16.6   -07 29 36     2.795    2.849   82.6   20.7   111   14.6 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   13 31 06.9   -07 35 17     2.809    2.850   81.9   20.7   111   14.6 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   13 31 58.1   -07 41 02     2.823    2.850   81.2   20.6   111   14.6 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   13 32 50.0   -07 46 50     2.837    2.850   80.5   20.6   111   14.6 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   13 33 42.6   -07 52 41     2.851    2.851   79.7   20.5   111   14.7 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   13 34 36.0   -07 58 35     2.865    2.851   79.0   20.5   111   14.7 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   13 35 30.1   -08 04 33     2.878    2.852   78.3   20.4   111   14.7 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   13 36 24.9   -08 10 34     2.892    2.852   77.6   20.3   111   14.7 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   13 37 20.4   -08 16 37     2.906    2.853   76.9   20.3   111   14.7 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   13 38 16.7   -08 22 43     2.920    2.853   76.2   20.2   111   14.7 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   13 39 13.6   -08 28 52     2.933    2.854   75.5   20.1   111   14.7 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   13 40 11.2   -08 35 04     2.947    2.854   74.8   20.1   111   14.7 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   13 41 09.4   -08 41 18     2.960    2.854   74.1   20.0   111   14.7 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   13 42 08.3   -08 47 35     2.974    2.855   73.4   19.9   111   14.7 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   13 43 07.9   -08 53 54     2.987    2.855   72.7   19.8   110   14.7 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   13 44 08.1   -09 00 15     3.000    2.856   72.0   19.7   110   14.7 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   13 45 08.9   -09 06 39     3.014    2.856   71.3   19.7   110   14.8 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   13 46 10.3   -09 13 04     3.027    2.856   70.7   19.6   110   14.8 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   13 47 12.4   -09 19 32     3.040    2.857   70.0   19.5   110   14.8 

    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.