(216) Kleopatra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Feb 2026	13.3	3.289 AU	3.699 AU	17h38m	-16°38'	58.3°	14.8°
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) : 215.31599
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 179.77915
            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
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   17 38 39.5   -16 38 09     3.699    3.289   58.3   14.8   276   13.3 
2026-02-12 04:16 UT   17 38 51.9   -16 37 46     3.697    3.289   58.4   14.8   276   13.3 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   17 39 49.0   -16 35 56     3.685    3.288   59.0   14.9   276   13.3 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   17 40 58.0   -16 33 39     3.671    3.286   59.8   15.0   276   13.3 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   17 42 06.5   -16 31 18     3.657    3.285   60.5   15.2   276   13.3 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   17 43 14.5   -16 28 54     3.642    3.283   61.2   15.3   275   13.3 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   17 44 22.0   -16 26 25     3.628    3.282   62.0   15.4   275   13.3 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   17 45 29.0   -16 23 52     3.614    3.280   62.7   15.5   275   13.3 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   17 46 35.4   -16 21 15     3.599    3.278   63.4   15.6   275   13.3 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   17 47 41.3   -16 18 35     3.584    3.277   64.2   15.8   275   13.2 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   17 48 46.6   -16 15 51     3.570    3.275   64.9   15.9   274   13.2 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   17 49 51.4   -16 13 03     3.555    3.274   65.7   16.0   274   13.2 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   17 50 55.6   -16 10 11     3.540    3.272   66.4   16.1   274   13.2 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   17 51 59.2   -16 07 15     3.525    3.270   67.2   16.2   274   13.2 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   17 53 02.2   -16 04 16     3.510    3.269   67.9   16.3   274   13.2 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   17 54 04.6   -16 01 13     3.495    3.267   68.7   16.4   274   13.2 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   17 55 06.4   -15 58 06     3.480    3.266   69.4   16.5   273   13.2 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   17 56 07.6   -15 54 55     3.464    3.264   70.2   16.6   273   13.2 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   17 57 08.2   -15 51 41     3.449    3.262   70.9   16.7   273   13.2 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   17 58 08.1   -15 48 23     3.434    3.261   71.7   16.8   273   13.2 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   17 59 07.3   -15 45 02     3.418    3.259   72.4   16.9   273   13.2 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   18 00 06.0   -15 41 37     3.403    3.257   73.2   16.9   272   13.2 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   18 01 03.9   -15 38 09     3.387    3.256   73.9   17.0   272   13.2 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   18 02 01.2   -15 34 37     3.372    3.254   74.7   17.1   272   13.1 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   18 02 57.7   -15 31 02     3.356    3.252   75.5   17.2   272   13.1 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   18 03 53.6   -15 27 23     3.340    3.251   76.2   17.3   272   13.1 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   18 04 48.7   -15 23 41     3.325    3.249   77.0   17.3   271   13.1 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   18 05 43.1   -15 19 55     3.309    3.247   77.8   17.4   271   13.1 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   18 06 36.8   -15 16 06     3.293    3.246   78.6   17.5   271   13.1 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   18 07 29.7   -15 12 13     3.277    3.244   79.3   17.5   271   13.1 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   18 08 21.9   -15 08 18     3.261    3.242   80.1   17.6   271   13.1 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   18 09 13.2   -15 04 19     3.246    3.240   80.9   17.6   270   13.1 

    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.