(204) Kallisto
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today11 Feb 202613.32.547 AU1.836 AU12h48m-11°01'126.2°18.2°
Opposition29 Mar 202612.02.461 AU1.464 AU12h28m-07°13'176.1°1.6°
(204) Kallisto - 2026-02-11
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Kallisto are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1760366
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6698134
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.27072
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 204.89762
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 56.95547
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 276.40040
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 261.57870
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 6.92571
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.36            
        

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
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   12 48 39.8   -11 01 52     1.836    2.547  126.2   18.2   297   13.3 
2026-02-11 06:11 UT   12 48 41.1   -11 01 49     1.833    2.546  126.5   18.2   297   13.3 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   12 48 44.3   -11 01 37     1.823    2.545  127.2   18.0   297   13.2 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   12 48 47.2   -11 01 10     1.811    2.543  128.2   17.8   297   13.2 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   12 48 48.6   -11 00 31     1.799    2.541  129.2   17.5   297   13.2 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   12 48 48.5   -10 59 40     1.787    2.539  130.2   17.3   297   13.2 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   12 48 46.8   -10 58 36     1.775    2.537  131.2   17.0   298   13.1 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   12 48 43.6   -10 57 20     1.763    2.535  132.3   16.8   298   13.1 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   12 48 38.8   -10 55 51     1.752    2.534  133.3   16.5   298   13.1 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   12 48 32.6   -10 54 09     1.740    2.532  134.3   16.2   298   13.1 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   12 48 24.7   -10 52 14     1.729    2.530  135.4   15.9   298   13.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   12 48 15.3   -10 50 06     1.718    2.528  136.4   15.6   298   13.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   12 48 04.4   -10 47 46     1.707    2.526  137.5   15.3   299   13.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   12 47 52.0   -10 45 12     1.696    2.524  138.5   15.0   299   13.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   12 47 38.1   -10 42 25     1.686    2.522  139.6   14.7   299   12.9 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   12 47 22.6   -10 39 26     1.675    2.520  140.7   14.4   299   12.9 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   12 47 05.7   -10 36 13     1.665    2.519  141.8   14.1   300   12.9 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   12 46 47.3   -10 32 47     1.655    2.517  142.9   13.7   300   12.9 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   12 46 27.4   -10 29 08     1.646    2.515  144.0   13.4   300   12.8 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   12 46 06.1   -10 25 16     1.636    2.513  145.1   13.0   300   12.8 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   12 45 43.4   -10 21 11     1.627    2.511  146.2   12.7   301   12.8 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   12 45 19.2   -10 16 53     1.618    2.509  147.3   12.3   301   12.7 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   12 44 53.7   -10 12 21     1.609    2.507  148.4   12.0   301   12.7 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   12 44 26.7   -10 07 37     1.600    2.506  149.5   11.6   301   12.7 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   12 43 58.5   -10 02 40     1.592    2.504  150.6   11.2   302   12.7 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   12 43 28.9   -09 57 31     1.583    2.502  151.8   10.8   302   12.6 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   12 42 58.0   -09 52 08     1.575    2.500  152.9   10.4   303   12.6 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   12 42 25.9   -09 46 33     1.568    2.498  154.1   10.0   303   12.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   12 41 52.5   -09 40 46     1.560    2.496  155.2    9.6   303   12.6 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   12 41 18.0   -09 34 46     1.553    2.495  156.4    9.2   304   12.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   12 40 42.3   -09 28 35     1.546    2.493  157.5    8.8   305   12.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   12 40 05.4   -09 22 11     1.539    2.491  158.7    8.3   305   12.5 


    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.