(216) Kleopatra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Dec 2025	13.2	3.387 AU	4.361 AU	16h01m	-16°19'	8.2°	2.4°
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
2025-12-01 00:00 UT   16 01 58.2   -16 19 33     4.361    3.387    8.2    2.4   313   13.2 
2025-12-01 20:04 UT   16 03 07.5   -16 21 38     4.358    3.386    8.7    2.5   311   13.2 
2025-12-02 00:00 UT   16 03 21.1   -16 22 02     4.357    3.386    8.8    2.5   310   13.2 
2025-12-03 00:00 UT   16 04 44.1   -16 24 29     4.354    3.385    9.4    2.7   308   13.2 
2025-12-04 00:00 UT   16 06 07.1   -16 26 52     4.350    3.384   10.0    2.9   306   13.2 
2025-12-05 00:00 UT   16 07 30.2   -16 29 12     4.347    3.383   10.6    3.1   305   13.2 
2025-12-06 00:00 UT   16 08 53.3   -16 31 29     4.343    3.382   11.3    3.3   303   13.2 
2025-12-07 00:00 UT   16 10 16.4   -16 33 42     4.338    3.380   11.9    3.4   302   13.2 
2025-12-08 00:00 UT   16 11 39.6   -16 35 52     4.334    3.379   12.5    3.6   301   13.2 
2025-12-09 00:00 UT   16 13 02.8   -16 37 59     4.330    3.378   13.2    3.8   300   13.2 
2025-12-10 00:00 UT   16 14 25.9   -16 40 02     4.325    3.377   13.8    4.0   299   13.2 
2025-12-11 00:00 UT   16 15 49.1   -16 42 02     4.320    3.376   14.5    4.2   298   13.2 
2025-12-12 00:00 UT   16 17 12.3   -16 43 58     4.315    3.375   15.1    4.4   297   13.2 
2025-12-13 00:00 UT   16 18 35.6   -16 45 51     4.310    3.373   15.8    4.6   296   13.2 
2025-12-14 00:00 UT   16 19 58.7   -16 47 41     4.305    3.372   16.5    4.7   295   13.3 
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   16 21 21.9   -16 49 27     4.299    3.371   17.1    4.9   295   13.3 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   16 22 45.1   -16 51 09     4.293    3.370   17.8    5.1   294   13.3 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   16 24 08.2   -16 52 47     4.288    3.368   18.5    5.3   293   13.3 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   16 25 31.3   -16 54 22     4.282    3.367   19.1    5.5   293   13.3 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   16 26 54.4   -16 55 54     4.275    3.366   19.8    5.7   292   13.3 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   16 28 17.4   -16 57 21     4.269    3.365   20.5    5.9   292   13.3 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   16 29 40.4   -16 58 45     4.262    3.364   21.2    6.1   291   13.3 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   16 31 03.2   -17 00 06     4.256    3.362   21.8    6.2   291   13.3 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   16 32 26.1   -17 01 22     4.249    3.361   22.5    6.4   290   13.3 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   16 33 48.8   -17 02 35     4.242    3.360   23.2    6.6   290   13.3 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   16 35 11.5   -17 03 43     4.234    3.359   23.9    6.8   289   13.3 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   16 36 34.1   -17 04 48     4.227    3.357   24.5    7.0   289   13.3 

    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.