(21) Lutetia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	29 May 2026	10.0	2.317 AU	1.304 AU	16h29m	-20°38'	178.3°	0.7°
Today	4 Jun 2026	10.1	2.307 AU	1.295 AU	16h24m	-20°34'	174.5°	2.4°

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 Lutetia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1647833
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4340237
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.06457
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.83714
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 249.93981
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 246.81008
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 150.75052
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.87849
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.80            
        

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
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   16 24 07.9   -20 34 32     1.295    2.307  174.5    2.4   110   10.1 
2026-06-04 11:10 UT   16 23 38.7   -20 34 10     1.295    2.306  174.0    2.7   109   10.1 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   16 23 05.2   -20 33 45     1.295    2.305  173.3    2.9   108   10.2 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   16 22 02.7   -20 32 58     1.294    2.303  172.1    3.5   106   10.2 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   16 21 00.6   -20 32 11     1.294    2.302  171.0    4.0   105   10.2 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   16 19 58.9   -20 31 25     1.294    2.300  169.8    4.5   105   10.2 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   16 18 57.8   -20 30 39     1.294    2.298  168.6    5.0   104   10.3 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   16 17 57.2   -20 29 54     1.295    2.296  167.4    5.5   104   10.3 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   16 16 57.4   -20 29 10     1.296    2.294  166.2    6.1   103   10.3 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   16 15 58.3   -20 28 27     1.297    2.292  165.0    6.6   103   10.3 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   16 15 00.0   -20 27 45     1.298    2.291  163.8    7.1   103   10.4 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   16 14 02.7   -20 27 04     1.299    2.289  162.7    7.6   103   10.4 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   16 13 06.4   -20 26 25     1.301    2.287  161.5    8.1   102   10.4 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   16 12 11.2   -20 25 49     1.303    2.285  160.3    8.6   102   10.4 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   16 11 17.1   -20 25 14     1.305    2.283  159.2    9.1   102   10.5 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   16 10 24.3   -20 24 41     1.308    2.282  158.0    9.6   102   10.5 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   16 09 32.8   -20 24 11     1.310    2.280  156.9   10.1   102   10.5 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   16 08 42.6   -20 23 44     1.313    2.278  155.7   10.6   102   10.5 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   16 07 53.9   -20 23 19     1.316    2.276  154.6   11.1   102   10.6 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   16 07 06.6   -20 22 57     1.320    2.275  153.4   11.5   102   10.6 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   16 06 20.9   -20 22 39     1.323    2.273  152.3   12.0   102   10.6 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   16 05 36.8   -20 22 23     1.327    2.271  151.2   12.5   102   10.6 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   16 04 54.2   -20 22 11     1.331    2.269  150.1   12.9   102   10.6 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   16 04 13.4   -20 22 03     1.335    2.267  148.9   13.4   102   10.7 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   16 03 34.3   -20 21 58     1.340    2.266  147.8   13.8   102   10.7 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   16 02 56.9   -20 21 58     1.344    2.264  146.7   14.3   102   10.7 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   16 02 21.2   -20 22 01     1.349    2.262  145.7   14.7   102   10.7 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   16 01 47.4   -20 22 08     1.354    2.260  144.6   15.1   102   10.7 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   16 01 15.4   -20 22 19     1.359    2.259  143.5   15.5   102   10.8 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   16 00 45.3   -20 22 35     1.364    2.257  142.4   15.9   102   10.8 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   16 00 17.1   -20 22 55     1.370    2.255  141.4   16.3   102   10.8 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   15 59 50.7   -20 23 19     1.375    2.253  140.3   16.7   102   10.8 

    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.