(182) Elsa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Feb 2026	14.8	2.804 AU	3.321 AU	18h39m	-22°26'	50.9°	15.9°
Opposition	15 Jul 2026	12.3	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) : 107.16298
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 310.57891
            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
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   18 39 31.8   -22 26 24     3.321    2.804   50.9   15.9   267   14.8 
2026-02-19 14:43 UT   18 40 27.7   -22 25 37     3.314    2.804   51.3   16.0   267   14.8 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 41 02.8   -22 25 06     3.310    2.803   51.5   16.0   266   14.8 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 42 33.5   -22 23 46     3.298    2.802   52.2   16.2   266   14.8 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 44 03.7   -22 22 23     3.286    2.801   52.8   16.3   266   14.8 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   18 45 33.5   -22 20 58     3.274    2.800   53.5   16.5   266   14.8 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   18 47 02.8   -22 19 30     3.262    2.799   54.2   16.7   266   14.8 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   18 48 31.8   -22 17 59     3.249    2.799   54.8   16.8   266   14.8 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   18 50 00.3   -22 16 25     3.237    2.798   55.5   17.0   266   14.8 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   18 51 28.3   -22 14 49     3.225    2.797   56.1   17.1   265   14.8 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   18 52 55.9   -22 13 11     3.212    2.796   56.8   17.2   265   14.8 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   18 54 23.0   -22 11 30     3.200    2.795   57.5   17.4   265   14.8 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   18 55 49.6   -22 09 47     3.187    2.794   58.1   17.5   265   14.8 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   18 57 15.8   -22 08 01     3.174    2.793   58.8   17.7   265   14.8 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   18 58 41.5   -22 06 13     3.161    2.792   59.5   17.8   265   14.7 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   19 00 06.7   -22 04 24     3.149    2.791   60.2   18.0   264   14.7 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   19 01 31.4   -22 02 32     3.136    2.790   60.8   18.1   264   14.7 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   19 02 55.6   -22 00 38     3.122    2.789   61.5   18.2   264   14.7 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   19 04 19.3   -21 58 42     3.109    2.788   62.2   18.4   264   14.7 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   19 05 42.4   -21 56 44     3.096    2.787   62.9   18.5   264   14.7 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   19 07 05.0   -21 54 45     3.083    2.786   63.5   18.6   264   14.7 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   19 08 27.1   -21 52 43     3.069    2.785   64.2   18.7   264   14.7 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   19 09 48.6   -21 50 40     3.056    2.784   64.9   18.9   263   14.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   19 11 09.5   -21 48 36     3.042    2.783   65.6   19.0   263   14.7 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   19 12 29.9   -21 46 29     3.029    2.782   66.3   19.1   263   14.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   19 13 49.7   -21 44 22     3.015    2.781   66.9   19.2   263   14.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   19 15 08.8   -21 42 13     3.001    2.779   67.6   19.3   263   14.7 

    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.