(38) Leda
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Aug 2026	12.7	3.073 AU	2.062 AU	21h17m	-11°42'	175.1°	1.6°
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)                : 0.1508913
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7426246
            i (Inclination)                 : 6.95159
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 295.49317
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 169.82712
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 209.10244
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 285.39353
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.22487
            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
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   21 17 41.4   -11 42 53     2.062    3.073  175.1    1.6   201   12.7 
2026-08-08 14:09 UT   21 17 10.1   -11 44 12     2.061    3.073  175.5    1.5   194   12.7 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   21 16 48.2   -11 45 08     2.061    3.073  175.7    1.4   189   12.7 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   21 15 55.0   -11 47 23     2.060    3.072  176.0    1.3   173   12.7 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   21 15 01.7   -11 49 41     2.059    3.071  176.0    1.3   156   12.7 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   21 14 08.4   -11 51 59     2.059    3.070  175.7    1.4   140   12.7 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   21 13 15.2   -11 54 19     2.058    3.069  175.1    1.6   127   12.7 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   21 12 22.1   -11 56 39     2.059    3.068  174.3    1.9   118   12.7 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   21 11 29.1   -11 59 00     2.059    3.067  173.4    2.2   111   12.8 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   21 10 36.4   -12 01 22     2.060    3.067  172.5    2.5   105   12.8 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   21 09 44.0   -12 03 43     2.061    3.066  171.4    2.8   101   12.8 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   21 08 51.9   -12 06 05     2.062    3.065  170.4    3.2    98   12.8 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   21 08 00.2   -12 08 26     2.064    3.064  169.3    3.5    96   12.8 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   21 07 08.9   -12 10 47     2.066    3.063  168.2    3.9    93   12.9 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   21 06 18.1   -12 13 08     2.068    3.062  167.1    4.2    92   12.9 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   21 05 27.8   -12 15 27     2.070    3.061  166.0    4.6    90   12.9 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   21 04 38.1   -12 17 46     2.073    3.060  164.8    5.0    89   12.9 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   21 03 49.0   -12 20 04     2.076    3.059  163.7    5.3    88   13.0 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   21 03 00.6   -12 22 20     2.079    3.059  162.6    5.7    87   13.0 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   21 02 12.9   -12 24 35     2.083    3.058  161.4    6.0    86   13.0 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   21 01 25.9   -12 26 48     2.086    3.057  160.3    6.4    86   13.0 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   21 00 39.8   -12 29 00     2.090    3.056  159.2    6.7    85   13.0 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   20 59 54.4   -12 31 10     2.095    3.055  158.1    7.1    84   13.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   20 59 10.0   -12 33 18     2.099    3.054  156.9    7.4    84   13.1 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   20 58 26.4   -12 35 24     2.104    3.053  155.8    7.8    84   13.1 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   20 57 43.8   -12 37 27     2.109    3.052  154.7    8.1    83   13.1 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   20 57 02.2   -12 39 28     2.115    3.051  153.5    8.5    83   13.1 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   20 56 21.6   -12 41 27     2.120    3.050  152.4    8.8    82   13.2 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   20 55 42.0   -12 43 23     2.126    3.049  151.3    9.1    82   13.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   20 55 03.6   -12 45 17     2.132    3.048  150.2    9.5    82   13.2 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   20 54 26.2   -12 47 07     2.138    3.047  149.1    9.8    82   13.2 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   20 53 50.0   -12 48 55     2.145    3.046  148.0   10.1    81   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.