(216) Kleopatra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 Mar 2026	13.1	3.240 AU	3.246 AU	18h09m	-15°04'	80.9°	17.6°
Opposition	21 Jun 2026	11.5	3.045 AU	2.056 AU	18h03m	-07°16'	163.8°	5.3°

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 Kleopatra are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2503343
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7949199
            i (Inclination)                 : 13.11727
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 215.31600
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 179.77914
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 217.66806
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 215.10090
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.05012
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.67            
        

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
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   18 09 13.2   -15 04 19     3.246    3.240   80.9   17.6   270   13.1 
2026-03-14 05:10 UT   18 09 24.2   -15 03 27     3.242    3.240   81.1   17.6   270   13.1 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   18 10 03.8   -15 00 17     3.230    3.239   81.7   17.7   270   13.1 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   18 10 53.6   -14 56 11     3.214    3.237   82.5   17.7   270   13.0 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   18 11 42.5   -14 52 03     3.198    3.235   83.3   17.8   270   13.0 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   18 12 30.7   -14 47 51     3.182    3.234   84.0   17.8   270   13.0 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   18 13 17.9   -14 43 36     3.166    3.232   84.8   17.9   269   13.0 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   18 14 04.3   -14 39 19     3.150    3.230   85.6   17.9   269   13.0 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   18 14 49.9   -14 34 58     3.134    3.228   86.4   17.9   269   13.0 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   18 15 34.5   -14 30 35     3.117    3.227   87.2   18.0   269   13.0 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   18 16 18.3   -14 26 08     3.101    3.225   88.0   18.0   269   13.0 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   18 17 01.1   -14 21 39     3.085    3.223   88.8   18.0   268   13.0 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   18 17 43.0   -14 17 07     3.069    3.221   89.6   18.0   268   12.9 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   18 18 24.0   -14 12 33     3.053    3.220   90.5   18.0   268   12.9 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   18 19 04.1   -14 07 55     3.037    3.218   91.3   18.1   268   12.9 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   18 19 43.2   -14 03 16     3.021    3.216   92.1   18.1   268   12.9 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   18 20 21.3   -13 58 33     3.005    3.214   92.9   18.1   267   12.9 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   18 20 58.5   -13 53 48     2.989    3.212   93.7   18.1   267   12.9 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   18 21 34.6   -13 49 01     2.973    3.211   94.6   18.1   267   12.9 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   18 22 09.8   -13 44 11     2.957    3.209   95.4   18.1   267   12.9 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   18 22 44.0   -13 39 19     2.941    3.207   96.2   18.0   267   12.8 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   18 23 17.1   -13 34 25     2.925    3.205   97.0   18.0   266   12.8 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   18 23 49.2   -13 29 28     2.909    3.203   97.9   18.0   266   12.8 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   18 24 20.3   -13 24 29     2.893    3.201   98.7   18.0   266   12.8 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   18 24 50.3   -13 19 28     2.878    3.200   99.6   18.0   266   12.8 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   18 25 19.2   -13 14 25     2.862    3.198  100.4   17.9   266   12.8 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   18 25 47.1   -13 09 20     2.846    3.196  101.3   17.9   265   12.8 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   18 26 13.8   -13 04 13     2.830    3.194  102.1   17.9   265   12.7 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   18 26 39.4   -12 59 05     2.815    3.192  103.0   17.8   265   12.7 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   18 27 03.9   -12 53 54     2.799    3.190  103.8   17.8   265   12.7 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   18 27 27.2   -12 48 42     2.784    3.189  104.7   17.7   264   12.7 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   18 27 49.4   -12 43 27     2.768    3.187  105.5   17.6   264   12.7 

    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.