(216) Kleopatra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 May 2026	12.0	3.116 AU	2.282 AU	18h27m	-09°29'	138.8°	12.3°
Opposition	21 Jun 2026	11.4	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
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   18 27 01.3   -09 29 42     2.282    3.116  138.8   12.3   251   12.0 
2026-05-19 18:22 UT   18 26 41.7   -09 25 48     2.274    3.114  139.6   12.2   250   12.0 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   18 26 35.5   -09 24 36     2.272    3.114  139.8   12.1   250   12.0 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   18 26 08.5   -09 19 33     2.261    3.112  140.8   11.9   250   12.0 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   18 25 40.2   -09 14 32     2.251    3.110  141.7   11.6   249   11.9 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   18 25 10.7   -09 09 35     2.241    3.108  142.7   11.4   248   11.9 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   18 24 39.9   -09 04 40     2.231    3.106  143.7   11.1   247   11.9 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   18 24 08.0   -08 59 49     2.222    3.104  144.6   10.9   246   11.9 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   18 23 34.8   -08 55 01     2.213    3.102  145.6   10.6   246   11.9 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   18 23 00.6   -08 50 16     2.204    3.099  146.5   10.4   245   11.8 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   18 22 25.1   -08 45 35     2.195    3.097  147.5   10.1   244   11.8 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   18 21 48.6   -08 40 58     2.186    3.095  148.4    9.9   243   11.8 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   18 21 11.0   -08 36 25     2.178    3.093  149.4    9.6   241   11.8 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   18 20 32.3   -08 31 56     2.169    3.091  150.3    9.4   240   11.8 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   18 19 52.6   -08 27 31     2.161    3.089  151.2    9.1   239   11.7 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   18 19 11.8   -08 23 10     2.154    3.087  152.1    8.8   238   11.7 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   18 18 30.1   -08 18 54     2.146    3.085  153.0    8.6   236   11.7 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   18 17 47.5   -08 14 43     2.139    3.083  153.9    8.3   235   11.7 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   18 17 03.9   -08 10 36     2.132    3.080  154.8    8.1   233   11.7 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   18 16 19.4   -08 06 35     2.125    3.078  155.6    7.8   231   11.6 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   18 15 34.1   -08 02 38     2.119    3.076  156.5    7.6   229   11.6 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   18 14 48.0   -07 58 47     2.113    3.074  157.3    7.3   227   11.6 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   18 14 01.0   -07 55 01     2.107    3.072  158.0    7.1   225   11.6 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   18 13 13.4   -07 51 21     2.101    3.070  158.8    6.9   223   11.6 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   18 12 25.0   -07 47 47     2.096    3.068  159.5    6.7   220   11.6 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   18 11 36.0   -07 44 18     2.091    3.065  160.2    6.4   218   11.5 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   18 10 46.4   -07 40 56     2.086    3.063  160.8    6.3   215   11.5 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   18 09 56.2   -07 37 39     2.081    3.061  161.4    6.1   212   11.5 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   18 09 05.5   -07 34 29     2.077    3.059  161.9    5.9   209   11.5 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   18 08 14.3   -07 31 26     2.073    3.057  162.4    5.8   205   11.5 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   18 07 22.7   -07 28 28     2.069    3.054  162.8    5.6   202   11.5 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   18 06 30.7   -07 25 38     2.066    3.052  163.2    5.5   198   11.5 

    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.