(385) Ilmatar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Sep 2026	12.7	3.185 AU	2.266 AU	01h00m	+15°56'	151.5°	8.7°
Opposition	8 Oct 2026	12.3	3.175 AU	2.187 AU	00h40m	+15°28'	169.8°	3.2°

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 Ilmatar are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1271095
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8471650
            i (Inclination)                 : 13.58324
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 344.83385
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 189.11808
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 183.13498
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 353.70100
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.13292
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.80            
        

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
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   01 00 19.5   +15 56 44     2.266    3.185  151.5    8.7   231   12.7 
2026-09-16 14:22 UT   00 59 52.5   +15 56 49     2.262    3.185  152.1    8.5   230   12.7 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   00 59 34.2   +15 56 50     2.259    3.185  152.5    8.4   230   12.7 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   00 58 48.0   +15 56 49     2.253    3.185  153.6    8.1   229   12.6 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   00 58 01.0   +15 56 39     2.247    3.184  154.6    7.8   228   12.6 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   00 57 13.1   +15 56 21     2.241    3.184  155.7    7.5   226   12.6 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   00 56 24.5   +15 55 55     2.236    3.183  156.7    7.2   225   12.6 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   00 55 35.2   +15 55 21     2.231    3.183  157.8    6.9   224   12.6 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   00 54 45.1   +15 54 39     2.226    3.182  158.8    6.6   222   12.5 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   00 53 54.5   +15 53 49     2.221    3.182  159.8    6.2   220   12.5 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   00 53 03.2   +15 52 51     2.217    3.182  160.8    5.9   219   12.5 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   00 52 11.4   +15 51 45     2.213    3.181  161.8    5.7   216   12.5 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   00 51 19.1   +15 50 31     2.209    3.181  162.8    5.4   214   12.5 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   00 50 26.3   +15 49 10     2.206    3.180  163.7    5.1   212   12.4 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   00 49 33.1   +15 47 42     2.203    3.180  164.6    4.8   209   12.4 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   00 48 39.5   +15 46 06     2.200    3.179  165.5    4.5   205   12.4 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   00 47 45.6   +15 44 23     2.197    3.179  166.3    4.3   202   12.4 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   00 46 51.4   +15 42 33     2.195    3.178  167.0    4.0   198   12.4 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   00 45 57.0   +15 40 37     2.193    3.178  167.7    3.8   193   12.4 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   00 45 02.4   +15 38 33     2.191    3.177  168.4    3.6   188   12.3 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   00 44 07.6   +15 36 23     2.190    3.177  168.9    3.5   183   12.3 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   00 43 12.8   +15 34 07     2.188    3.176  169.3    3.3   177   12.3 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   00 42 18.0   +15 31 45     2.188    3.176  169.6    3.3   170   12.3 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   00 41 23.2   +15 29 17     2.187    3.175  169.8    3.2   164   12.3 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   00 40 28.5   +15 26 43     2.187    3.175  169.8    3.2   157   12.3 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   00 39 34.0   +15 24 04     2.187    3.174  169.7    3.2   150   12.3 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   00 38 39.6   +15 21 20     2.187    3.174  169.4    3.3   143   12.3 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   00 37 45.5   +15 18 31     2.188    3.173  169.1    3.4   137   12.3 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   00 36 51.7   +15 15 38     2.189    3.173  168.6    3.6   131   12.3 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   00 35 58.3   +15 12 41     2.190    3.172  168.0    3.8   126   12.4 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   00 35 05.3   +15 09 40     2.191    3.172  167.3    4.0   122   12.4 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   00 34 12.7   +15 06 35     2.193    3.171  166.6    4.2   117   12.4 

    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.