(100) Hekate
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Aug 2026	11.4	2.582 AU	1.615 AU	22h23m	-13°18'	157.4°	8.7°
Opposition	21 Aug 2026	11.0	2.590 AU	1.580 AU	22h11m	-15°23'	175.9°	1.6°

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 Hekate are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1679769
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0905905
            i (Inclination)                 : 6.43111
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 127.15512
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 183.51108
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 359.55611
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 130.64416
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.39303
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.43            
        

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
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   22 23 08.2   -13 18 51     1.615    2.582  157.4    8.7   256   11.4 
2026-08-03 03:48 UT   22 23 03.3   -13 19 51     1.615    2.582  157.6    8.6   256   11.4 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   22 22 36.4   -13 25 13     1.611    2.582  158.5    8.3   257   11.4 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   22 22 03.4   -13 31 40     1.607    2.583  159.6    7.9   257   11.4 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   22 21 29.5   -13 38 11     1.604    2.583  160.7    7.4   258   11.4 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   22 20 54.7   -13 44 47     1.600    2.583  161.8    7.0   259   11.3 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   22 20 18.9   -13 51 25     1.597    2.584  162.9    6.6   260   11.3 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 19 42.2   -13 58 07     1.594    2.584  164.0    6.2   261   11.3 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   22 19 04.7   -14 04 52     1.592    2.585  165.1    5.8   262   11.3 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   22 18 26.4   -14 11 39     1.589    2.585  166.2    5.3   263   11.2 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   22 17 47.4   -14 18 28     1.587    2.586  167.3    4.9   265   11.2 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   22 17 07.7   -14 25 18     1.585    2.586  168.4    4.5   266   11.2 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   22 16 27.4   -14 32 09     1.584    2.586  169.5    4.1   269   11.2 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   22 15 46.5   -14 39 00     1.582    2.587  170.6    3.7   271   11.1 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   22 15 05.2   -14 45 52     1.581    2.587  171.6    3.3   275   11.1 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   22 14 23.4   -14 52 43     1.581    2.588  172.6    2.9   279   11.1 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   22 13 41.2   -14 59 33     1.580    2.588  173.6    2.5   285   11.1 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   22 12 58.7   -15 06 21     1.580    2.589  174.4    2.2   292   11.0 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   22 12 15.9   -15 13 08     1.580    2.589  175.2    1.9   302   11.0 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   22 11 32.9   -15 19 53     1.580    2.590  175.7    1.7   315   11.0 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   22 10 49.8   -15 26 35     1.580    2.590  176.0    1.6   331   11.0 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   22 10 06.6   -15 33 14     1.581    2.591  176.0    1.6   348   11.0 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   22 09 23.4   -15 39 50     1.582    2.592  175.6    1.7     3   11.0 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   22 08 40.2   -15 46 21     1.584    2.592  175.0    1.9    15   11.0 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   22 07 57.1   -15 52 49     1.585    2.593  174.2    2.2    24   11.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   22 07 14.2   -15 59 11     1.587    2.593  173.3    2.6    31   11.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   22 06 31.5   -16 05 29     1.589    2.594  172.4    3.0    36   11.1 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   22 05 49.0   -16 11 42     1.591    2.594  171.4    3.4    41   11.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   22 05 06.9   -16 17 48     1.594    2.595  170.3    3.8    44   11.2 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   22 04 25.1   -16 23 49     1.597    2.595  169.2    4.2    46   11.2 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   22 03 43.8   -16 29 43     1.600    2.596  168.2    4.6    48   11.2 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   22 03 03.0   -16 35 31     1.603    2.597  167.1    5.0    50   11.2 

    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.