(101) Helena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	18 Oct 2026	11.3	2.342 AU	1.358 AU	01h17m	+20°58'	168.1°	5.0°
Today	26 Oct 2026	11.4	2.352 AU	1.377 AU	01h09m	+20°38'	165.3°	6.2°

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 Helena are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1404315
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5834325
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.19256
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 343.35558
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 347.73090
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 11.14009
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 331.27437
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.15506
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.15            
        

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
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   01 09 33.1   +20 38 24     1.377    2.352  165.3    6.2   123   11.4 
2026-10-26 15:52 UT   01 08 55.1   +20 36 16     1.379    2.353  164.8    6.4   120   11.4 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   01 08 35.8   +20 35 10     1.380    2.353  164.5    6.5   119   11.4 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   01 07 39.6   +20 31 51     1.384    2.354  163.7    6.8   116   11.5 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   01 06 44.4   +20 28 26     1.388    2.356  162.9    7.1   112   11.5 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   01 05 50.4   +20 24 57     1.392    2.357  162.0    7.5   110   11.5 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   01 04 57.5   +20 21 24     1.397    2.358  161.1    7.8   107   11.5 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   01 04 06.0   +20 17 48     1.402    2.360  160.2    8.2   105   11.5 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   01 03 15.8   +20 14 08     1.407    2.361  159.2    8.6   102   11.6 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   01 02 27.0   +20 10 26     1.412    2.362  158.2    9.0   101   11.6 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   01 01 39.6   +20 06 42     1.417    2.363  157.2    9.4    99   11.6 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   01 00 53.8   +20 02 57     1.423    2.365  156.2    9.7    97   11.7 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   01 00 09.5   +19 59 10     1.429    2.366  155.2   10.1    96   11.7 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   00 59 26.7   +19 55 23     1.435    2.367  154.2   10.5    94   11.7 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   00 58 45.7   +19 51 37     1.442    2.369  153.1   10.9    93   11.7 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   00 58 06.3   +19 47 51     1.449    2.370  152.1   11.3    92   11.8 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   00 57 28.6   +19 44 06     1.456    2.371  151.1   11.7    90   11.8 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   00 56 52.7   +19 40 22     1.463    2.373  150.0   12.0    89   11.8 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   00 56 18.5   +19 36 41     1.470    2.374  149.0   12.4    88   11.8 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   00 55 46.2   +19 33 02     1.478    2.375  147.9   12.8    87   11.9 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   00 55 15.7   +19 29 26     1.486    2.377  146.9   13.1    87   11.9 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   00 54 47.0   +19 25 54     1.494    2.378  145.8   13.5    86   11.9 
2026-11-16 00:00 UT   00 54 20.3   +19 22 25     1.502    2.379  144.8   13.9    85   11.9 
2026-11-17 00:00 UT   00 53 55.4   +19 19 00     1.510    2.381  143.8   14.2    84   12.0 
2026-11-18 00:00 UT   00 53 32.3   +19 15 40     1.519    2.382  142.7   14.6    84   12.0 
2026-11-19 00:00 UT   00 53 11.2   +19 12 24     1.528    2.383  141.7   14.9    83   12.0 
2026-11-20 00:00 UT   00 52 52.0   +19 09 14     1.537    2.385  140.7   15.2    82   12.0 
2026-11-21 00:00 UT   00 52 34.7   +19 06 09     1.546    2.386  139.6   15.6    82   12.1 
2026-11-22 00:00 UT   00 52 19.3   +19 03 10     1.555    2.388  138.6   15.9    81   12.1 
2026-11-23 00:00 UT   00 52 05.9   +19 00 16     1.565    2.389  137.6   16.2    81   12.1 
2026-11-24 00:00 UT   00 51 54.3   +18 57 29     1.575    2.390  136.6   16.5    80   12.1 
2026-11-25 00:00 UT   00 51 44.6   +18 54 49     1.585    2.392  135.6   16.8    79   12.2 

    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.