(100) Hekate
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	21 Aug 2026	11.0	2.590 AU	1.580 AU	22h11m	-15°23'	175.9°	1.6°
Today	22 Aug 2026	11.0	2.590 AU	1.580 AU	22h10m	-15°26'	176.0°	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
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   22 10 49.8   -15 26 35     1.580    2.590  176.0    1.6   331   11.0 
2026-08-22 07:18 UT   22 10 36.7   -15 28 37     1.581    2.591  176.1    1.5   336   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 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   22 02 22.7   -16 41 12     1.607    2.597  166.0    5.4    52   11.3 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   22 01 43.0   -16 46 46     1.611    2.598  164.9    5.8    53   11.3 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   22 01 04.0   -16 52 12     1.615    2.599  163.8    6.2    54   11.3 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   22 00 25.7   -16 57 30     1.619    2.599  162.6    6.6    55   11.4 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   21 59 48.1   -17 02 41     1.624    2.600  161.5    7.1    56   11.4 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   21 59 11.4   -17 07 43     1.629    2.600  160.4    7.5    57   11.4 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   21 58 35.5   -17 12 36     1.634    2.601  159.3    7.9    58   11.4 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   21 58 00.5   -17 17 20     1.640    2.602  158.2    8.3    58   11.5 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   21 57 26.5   -17 21 56     1.645    2.602  157.1    8.7    59   11.5 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   21 56 53.6   -17 26 22     1.651    2.603  156.0    9.0    59   11.5 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   21 56 21.6   -17 30 39     1.657    2.604  154.9    9.4    60   11.5 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   21 55 50.8   -17 34 47     1.664    2.604  153.8    9.8    60   11.6 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   21 55 21.1   -17 38 44     1.670    2.605  152.7   10.2    61   11.6 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   21 54 52.6   -17 42 32     1.677    2.606  151.6   10.6    61   11.6 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   21 54 25.3   -17 46 10     1.684    2.606  150.5   10.9    62   11.6 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   21 53 59.3   -17 49 38     1.691    2.607  149.5   11.3    62   11.6 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   21 53 34.5   -17 52 56     1.699    2.608  148.4   11.7    62   11.7 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   21 53 11.0   -17 56 04     1.706    2.609  147.3   12.0    63   11.7 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   21 52 48.9   -17 59 02     1.714    2.609  146.2   12.3    63   11.7 

    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.