(100) Hekate
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Jan 2026	13.1	2.641 AU	3.539 AU	18h56m	-20°17'	20.6°	7.5°
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)                : 0.1679761
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0904457
            i (Inclination)                 : 6.43092
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 127.15593
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 183.55245
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 323.24400
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 130.68608
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.39764
            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
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   18 56 16.0   -20 17 08     3.539    2.641   20.6    7.5   271   13.1 
2026-01-24 03:57 UT   18 56 34.8   -20 16 51     3.538    2.640   20.7    7.6   271   13.1 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   18 58 10.3   -20 15 21     3.534    2.640   21.2    7.7   271   13.2 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   19 00 04.6   -20 13 30     3.528    2.639   21.7    7.9   270   13.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   19 01 58.7   -20 11 33     3.522    2.638   22.3    8.1   270   13.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   19 03 52.7   -20 09 31     3.517    2.637   22.8    8.3   270   13.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   19 05 46.5   -20 07 24     3.511    2.636   23.4    8.5   269   13.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   19 07 40.2   -20 05 13     3.504    2.635   24.0    8.7   269   13.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   19 09 33.7   -20 02 57     3.498    2.634   24.5    8.9   268   13.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   19 11 27.1   -20 00 35     3.492    2.633   25.1    9.1   268   13.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   19 13 20.3   -19 58 09     3.486    2.632   25.7    9.3   268   13.2 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   19 15 13.4   -19 55 39     3.479    2.631   26.2    9.5   267   13.2 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   19 17 06.3   -19 53 03     3.472    2.630   26.8    9.7   267   13.2 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   19 18 59.1   -19 50 23     3.466    2.630   27.4    9.9   267   13.2 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   19 20 51.6   -19 47 39     3.459    2.629   27.9   10.1   266   13.2 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   19 22 44.0   -19 44 49     3.452    2.628   28.5   10.3   266   13.2 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   19 24 36.2   -19 41 55     3.445    2.627   29.1   10.5   266   13.2 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   19 26 28.2   -19 38 57     3.438    2.626   29.6   10.7   266   13.2 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   19 28 20.0   -19 35 54     3.431    2.625   30.2   10.9   265   13.2 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   19 30 11.5   -19 32 47     3.423    2.624   30.8   11.1   265   13.2 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   19 32 02.9   -19 29 36     3.416    2.623   31.3   11.3   265   13.2 

    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.