(68) Leto
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today26 Mar 202511.72.270 AU3.234 AU23h44m-06°41'12.3°5.4°
Opposition20 Nov 202510.02.524 AU1.537 AU03h40m+22°51'176.8°1.3°
(68) Leto - 2025-03-26
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Leto are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1843252
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7824271
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.96099
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 44.04879
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 304.84264
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 8.23054
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -10.84796
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -6.52688
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.64            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.




Ephemerides:
Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   23 44 31.1   -06 41 10     3.234    2.270   12.3    5.4   225   11.7 
2025-03-26 10:35 UT   23 45 21.2   -06 35 21     3.233    2.270   12.5    5.5   225   11.7 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   23 46 24.7   -06 27 58     3.232    2.270   12.8    5.6   226   11.7 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   23 48 18.1   -06 14 47     3.230    2.270   13.2    5.8   227   11.7 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   23 50 11.4   -06 01 35     3.228    2.270   13.6    5.9   227   11.7 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   23 52 04.6   -05 48 24     3.225    2.270   14.1    6.1   228   11.7 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   23 53 57.7   -05 35 13     3.223    2.270   14.5    6.3   229   11.7 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   23 55 50.6   -05 22 03     3.220    2.270   14.9    6.5   229   11.7 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   23 57 43.4   -05 08 53     3.218    2.270   15.4    6.7   230   11.7 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   23 59 36.0   -04 55 43     3.215    2.270   15.8    6.9   230   11.7 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   00 01 28.5   -04 42 34     3.213    2.270   16.3    7.1   231   11.7 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   00 03 20.9   -04 29 26     3.210    2.270   16.7    7.3   231   11.7 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   00 05 13.1   -04 16 18     3.207    2.270   17.2    7.5   232   11.8 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   00 07 05.2   -04 03 11     3.204    2.270   17.6    7.7   232   11.8 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   00 08 57.2   -03 50 05     3.201    2.270   18.1    7.9   233   11.8 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   00 10 49.0   -03 36 60     3.198    2.270   18.5    8.1   233   11.8 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   00 12 40.7   -03 23 56     3.194    2.271   19.0    8.2   234   11.8 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   00 14 32.3   -03 10 52     3.191    2.271   19.4    8.4   234   11.8 


    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.