(216) Kleopatra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2026	13.4	3.321 AU	3.968 AU	17h12m	-17°09'	43.2°	11.7°
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
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   17 12 47.0   -17 09 06     3.968    3.321   43.2   11.7   281   13.4 
2026-01-22 02:11 UT   17 12 54.1   -17 09 01     3.967    3.321   43.3   11.7   281   13.4 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   17 14 04.4   -17 08 18     3.957    3.319   44.0   11.9   281   13.4 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 15 21.5   -17 07 26     3.945    3.318   44.7   12.0   280   13.4 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 16 38.3   -17 06 31     3.933    3.316   45.4   12.2   280   13.3 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 17 54.8   -17 05 31     3.921    3.315   46.1   12.4   280   13.3 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   17 19 11.0   -17 04 27     3.909    3.313   46.8   12.5   280   13.3 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   17 20 26.8   -17 03 19     3.897    3.312   47.5   12.7   280   13.3 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 21 42.3   -17 02 07     3.884    3.311   48.2   12.8   279   13.3 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 22 57.4   -17 00 50     3.872    3.309   48.9   13.0   279   13.3 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 24 12.2   -16 59 30     3.859    3.308   49.6   13.1   279   13.3 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 25 26.7   -16 58 06     3.847    3.306   50.4   13.3   279   13.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 26 40.8   -16 56 37     3.834    3.305   51.1   13.4   278   13.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 27 54.5   -16 55 05     3.821    3.303   51.8   13.6   278   13.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 29 07.8   -16 53 28     3.808    3.302   52.5   13.7   278   13.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   17 30 20.7   -16 51 47     3.794    3.300   53.2   13.8   278   13.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   17 31 33.3   -16 50 03     3.781    3.299   53.9   14.0   278   13.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   17 32 45.4   -16 48 14     3.768    3.297   54.7   14.1   277   13.3 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   17 33 57.1   -16 46 21     3.754    3.296   55.4   14.3   277   13.3 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   17 35 08.4   -16 44 24     3.741    3.294   56.1   14.4   277   13.3 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   17 36 19.2   -16 42 23     3.727    3.292   56.8   14.5   277   13.3 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   17 37 29.6   -16 40 18     3.713    3.291   57.6   14.7   277   13.3 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   17 38 39.5   -16 38 09     3.699    3.289   58.3   14.8   276   13.3 
2026-02-13 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 

    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.