(38) Leda
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Mar 2026	14.6	3.150 AU	3.671 AU	20h43m	-18°17'	51.6°	14.3°
Opposition	10 Aug 2026	12.7	3.071 AU	2.059 AU	21h15m	-11°48'	176.1°	1.3°

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 Leda are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1509283
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7425763
            i (Inclination)                 : 6.95165
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 295.49341
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 169.78348
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 165.76116
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 285.35043
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.23008
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.54            
        

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
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   20 43 38.3   -18 17 32     3.671    3.150   51.6   14.3   255   14.6 
2026-03-21 03:10 UT   20 43 48.0   -18 16 47     3.669    3.150   51.7   14.4   255   14.6 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   20 44 51.7   -18 11 48     3.659    3.150   52.3   14.5   255   14.6 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   20 46 04.5   -18 06 03     3.648    3.149   53.0   14.6   255   14.6 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   20 47 16.9   -18 00 18     3.636    3.149   53.6   14.8   255   14.6 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   20 48 28.8   -17 54 32     3.624    3.149   54.3   14.9   254   14.6 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   20 49 40.1   -17 48 46     3.612    3.149   55.0   15.0   254   14.6 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   20 50 51.0   -17 42 60     3.600    3.148   55.7   15.2   254   14.6 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   20 52 01.3   -17 37 13     3.588    3.148   56.4   15.3   254   14.6 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   20 53 11.0   -17 31 27     3.576    3.148   57.1   15.4   254   14.6 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   20 54 20.3   -17 25 40     3.564    3.148   57.8   15.6   254   14.6 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   20 55 29.0   -17 19 54     3.552    3.147   58.5   15.7   254   14.6 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   20 56 37.1   -17 14 07     3.539    3.147   59.2   15.8   254   14.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   20 57 44.7   -17 08 20     3.527    3.147   59.9   15.9   254   14.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   20 58 51.8   -17 02 34     3.514    3.146   60.6   16.1   254   14.6 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   20 59 58.3   -16 56 48     3.501    3.146   61.3   16.2   254   14.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   21 01 04.2   -16 51 02     3.488    3.146   62.0   16.3   254   14.6 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   21 02 09.5   -16 45 16     3.476    3.145   62.7   16.4   254   14.6 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   21 03 14.3   -16 39 31     3.463    3.145   63.4   16.5   254   14.6 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   21 04 18.5   -16 33 46     3.450    3.145   64.1   16.6   253   14.6 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   21 05 22.0   -16 28 02     3.436    3.144   64.9   16.8   253   14.6 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   21 06 25.0   -16 22 18     3.423    3.144   65.6   16.9   253   14.6 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   21 07 27.3   -16 16 35     3.410    3.144   66.3   17.0   253   14.6 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   21 08 29.1   -16 10 53     3.397    3.143   67.0   17.1   253   14.6 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   21 09 30.1   -16 05 12     3.383    3.143   67.7   17.2   253   14.6 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   21 10 30.6   -15 59 31     3.370    3.143   68.4   17.3   253   14.6 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   21 11 30.4   -15 53 52     3.356    3.142   69.2   17.4   253   14.5 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   21 12 29.5   -15 48 13     3.342    3.142   69.9   17.5   253   14.5 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   21 13 28.0   -15 42 36     3.329    3.142   70.6   17.5   253   14.5 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   21 14 25.8   -15 36 59     3.315    3.141   71.4   17.6   253   14.5 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   21 15 22.9   -15 31 25     3.301    3.141   72.1   17.7   253   14.5 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   21 16 19.3   -15 25 51     3.287    3.141   72.8   17.8   253   14.5 

    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.