(622) Esther
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Oct 2026	11.9	1.834 AU	0.860 AU	02h20m	-04°08'	162.1°	9.6°
Opposition	23 Oct 2026	11.9	1.832 AU	0.858 AU	02h17m	-04°35'	162.6°	9.3°

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 Esther are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2429245
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4147304
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.63568
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 141.87835
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 257.03219
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 319.08311
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 218.76695
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -8.41382
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   02 20 27.1   -04 08 29     0.860    1.834  162.1    9.6   323   11.9 
2026-10-20 08:12 UT   02 20 13.1   -04 11 17     0.860    1.834  162.2    9.5   324   11.9 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   02 19 45.9   -04 16 37     0.859    1.833  162.4    9.5   327   11.9 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   02 19 04.0   -04 24 29     0.859    1.833  162.5    9.4   331   11.9 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   02 18 21.4   -04 32 07     0.858    1.832  162.6    9.3   335   11.9 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   02 17 38.3   -04 39 28     0.858    1.832  162.6    9.3   339   11.9 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   02 16 54.8   -04 46 32     0.858    1.832  162.6    9.4   343   11.9 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   02 16 11.0   -04 53 19     0.859    1.831  162.4    9.4   347   11.9 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   02 15 26.9   -04 59 48     0.859    1.831  162.2    9.6   351   11.9 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   02 14 42.6   -05 05 57     0.860    1.830  161.9    9.7   355   11.9 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   02 13 58.3   -05 11 48     0.861    1.830  161.5    9.9   358   12.0 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   02 13 14.0   -05 17 19     0.862    1.830  161.1   10.1     2   12.0 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   02 12 29.8   -05 22 29     0.863    1.830  160.6   10.4     5   12.0 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   02 11 45.9   -05 27 18     0.865    1.829  160.1   10.6     8   12.0 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   02 11 02.3   -05 31 47     0.866    1.829  159.5   10.9    11   12.0 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   02 10 19.1   -05 35 53     0.868    1.829  158.9   11.3    14   12.0 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   02 09 36.4   -05 39 37     0.870    1.829  158.2   11.6    17   12.0 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   02 08 54.4   -05 42 59     0.873    1.829  157.5   12.0    19   12.1 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   02 08 13.0   -05 45 57     0.875    1.828  156.8   12.3    22   12.1 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   02 07 32.5   -05 48 33     0.878    1.828  156.0   12.7    24   12.1 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   02 06 52.9   -05 50 45     0.881    1.828  155.2   13.1    26   12.1 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   02 06 14.2   -05 52 34     0.884    1.828  154.4   13.5    28   12.2 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   02 05 36.7   -05 53 60     0.887    1.828  153.6   13.9    30   12.2 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   02 05 00.3   -05 55 01     0.891    1.828  152.7   14.4    32   12.2 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   02 04 25.1   -05 55 39     0.894    1.828  151.9   14.8    33   12.2 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   02 03 51.3   -05 55 53     0.898    1.828  151.0   15.2    35   12.2 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   02 03 18.8   -05 55 44     0.902    1.828  150.1   15.6    36   12.3 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   02 02 47.8   -05 55 11     0.907    1.828  149.3   16.1    38   12.3 
2026-11-16 00:00 UT   02 02 18.3   -05 54 16     0.911    1.828  148.4   16.5    39   12.3 
2026-11-17 00:00 UT   02 01 50.4   -05 52 56     0.916    1.828  147.5   16.9    40   12.3 
2026-11-18 00:00 UT   02 01 24.2   -05 51 15     0.920    1.829  146.6   17.3    41   12.4 
2026-11-19 00:00 UT   02 00 59.6   -05 49 10     0.925    1.829  145.7   17.7    42   12.4 

    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.