(35) Leukothea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Feb 2026	11.9	2.515 AU	1.531 AU	10h54m	+10°36'	172.5°	3.0°
Opposition	28 Feb 2026	11.8	2.506 AU	1.516 AU	10h49m	+10°47'	177.0°	1.2°

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 Leukothea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2172633
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0056987
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.86607
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 352.90956
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 215.43996
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 309.11721
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 28.09403
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -4.55161
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.21            
        

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
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   10 54 05.8   +10 36 16     1.531    2.515  172.5    3.0   266   11.9 
2026-02-23 16:42 UT   10 53 28.8   +10 37 40     1.529    2.514  173.2    2.7   263   11.9 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   10 53 12.5   +10 38 16     1.528    2.514  173.6    2.5   262   11.9 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   10 52 18.7   +10 40 16     1.525    2.512  174.6    2.1   256   11.8 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   10 51 24.4   +10 42 14     1.522    2.510  175.6    1.7   247   11.8 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   10 50 29.8   +10 44 10     1.519    2.509  176.4    1.4   233   11.8 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   10 49 34.8   +10 46 05     1.517    2.507  176.9    1.2   214   11.8 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   10 48 39.7   +10 47 58     1.515    2.505  176.9    1.2   191   11.8 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   10 47 44.4   +10 49 48     1.514    2.504  176.5    1.4   170   11.8 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   10 46 48.9   +10 51 36     1.512    2.502  175.8    1.7   156   11.8 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   10 45 53.5   +10 53 20     1.511    2.500  174.9    2.0   146   11.8 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   10 44 58.1   +10 55 02     1.510    2.499  173.9    2.4   139   11.8 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   10 44 02.8   +10 56 40     1.510    2.497  172.8    2.9   134   11.9 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   10 43 07.7   +10 58 13     1.510    2.495  171.6    3.3   130   11.9 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   10 42 12.9   +10 59 43     1.510    2.494  170.5    3.8   128   11.9 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   10 41 18.4   +11 01 08     1.510    2.492  169.3    4.2   126   11.9 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   10 40 24.3   +11 02 29     1.510    2.491  168.2    4.7   124   12.0 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   10 39 30.7   +11 03 45     1.511    2.489  167.0    5.2   122   12.0 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   10 38 37.6   +11 04 55     1.512    2.487  165.8    5.6   121   12.0 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   10 37 45.1   +11 06 00     1.513    2.486  164.6    6.1   120   12.0 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   10 36 53.3   +11 06 60     1.515    2.484  163.5    6.5   119   12.1 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   10 36 02.3   +11 07 53     1.517    2.483  162.3    7.0   119   12.1 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   10 35 12.0   +11 08 40     1.519    2.481  161.1    7.5   118   12.1 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   10 34 22.7   +11 09 21     1.521    2.480  159.9    7.9   117   12.1 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   10 33 34.2   +11 09 56     1.524    2.478  158.8    8.4   117   12.1 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   10 32 46.8   +11 10 23     1.527    2.476  157.6    8.8   116   12.2 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   10 32 00.5   +11 10 44     1.530    2.475  156.4    9.3   116   12.2 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   10 31 15.2   +11 10 57     1.533    2.473  155.3    9.7   115   12.2 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   10 30 31.2   +11 11 04     1.537    2.472  154.1   10.1   115   12.2 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   10 29 48.3   +11 11 02     1.541    2.470  153.0   10.6   115   12.3 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   10 29 06.8   +11 10 54     1.545    2.469  151.8   11.0   114   12.3 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   10 28 26.5   +11 10 37     1.549    2.467  150.7   11.4   114   12.3 

    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.