(101) Helena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Oct 2026	11.5	2.324 AU	1.367 AU	01h33m	+21°11'	157.5°	9.5°
Opposition	18 Oct 2026	11.3	2.342 AU	1.358 AU	01h17m	+20°58'	168.1°	5.0°

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
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   01 33 10.1   +21 11 28     1.367    2.324  157.5    9.5   221   11.5 
2026-10-03 05:07 UT   01 32 57.8   +21 11 38     1.367    2.324  157.7    9.4   221   11.5 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   01 32 11.8   +21 12 08     1.365    2.325  158.5    9.1   219   11.5 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   01 31 12.7   +21 12 36     1.363    2.326  159.5    8.7   217   11.5 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   01 30 12.7   +21 12 50     1.361    2.327  160.4    8.3   215   11.5 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   01 29 11.9   +21 12 51     1.359    2.328  161.3    7.9   213   11.4 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   01 28 10.5   +21 12 40     1.358    2.330  162.3    7.5   210   11.4 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   01 27 08.6   +21 12 17     1.357    2.331  163.1    7.1   207   11.4 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   01 26 06.1   +21 11 41     1.356    2.332  164.0    6.8   204   11.4 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   01 25 03.2   +21 10 53     1.355    2.333  164.7    6.5   200   11.4 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   01 24 00.0   +21 09 53     1.355    2.334  165.5    6.2   196   11.4 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   01 22 56.6   +21 08 42     1.355    2.336  166.1    5.9   192   11.3 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   01 21 53.1   +21 07 19     1.355    2.337  166.7    5.6   187   11.3 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   01 20 49.5   +21 05 46     1.355    2.338  167.2    5.4   182   11.3 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   01 19 46.0   +21 04 02     1.356    2.339  167.6    5.3   177   11.3 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   01 18 42.7   +21 02 08     1.357    2.341  167.9    5.1   171   11.3 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   01 17 39.5   +21 00 03     1.358    2.342  168.0    5.1   165   11.3 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   01 16 36.7   +20 57 50     1.359    2.343  168.1    5.0   159   11.3 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   01 15 34.3   +20 55 27     1.361    2.344  168.0    5.1   153   11.3 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   01 14 32.4   +20 52 56     1.363    2.346  167.8    5.1   147   11.3 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   01 13 31.1   +20 50 16     1.365    2.347  167.5    5.3   142   11.3 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   01 12 30.4   +20 47 29     1.368    2.348  167.1    5.4   136   11.4 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   01 11 30.5   +20 44 34     1.370    2.349  166.5    5.7   132   11.4 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   01 10 31.3   +20 41 32     1.373    2.351  165.9    5.9   127   11.4 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   01 09 33.1   +20 38 24     1.377    2.352  165.3    6.2   123   11.4 
2026-10-27 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 

    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.