(21) Lutetia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	14 May 2026	10.6	2.345 AU	1.369 AU	16h44m	-20°47'	160.4°	8.3°
Opposition	29 May 2026	10.0	2.317 AU	1.304 AU	16h29m	-20°38'	178.3°	0.7°

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
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   16 44 42.8   -20 47 28     1.369    2.345  160.4    8.3   273   10.6 
2026-05-14 08:05 UT   16 44 26.2   -20 47 20     1.367    2.345  160.8    8.2   273   10.6 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   16 43 53.0   -20 47 05     1.363    2.344  161.5    7.9   273   10.6 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   16 43 01.9   -20 46 41     1.357    2.342  162.7    7.4   273   10.5 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   16 42 09.4   -20 46 15     1.352    2.340  163.8    6.9   273   10.5 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   16 41 15.8   -20 45 48     1.346    2.338  165.0    6.4   272   10.5 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   16 40 20.9   -20 45 18     1.341    2.336  166.2    5.9   272   10.4 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   16 39 25.0   -20 44 47     1.337    2.334  167.4    5.4   272   10.4 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   16 38 28.1   -20 44 15     1.332    2.333  168.5    4.9   271   10.4 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   16 37 30.2   -20 43 41     1.328    2.331  169.7    4.4   271   10.3 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   16 36 31.5   -20 43 05     1.324    2.329  170.9    3.9   270   10.3 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   16 35 32.0   -20 42 28     1.320    2.327  172.1    3.4   269   10.2 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   16 34 31.7   -20 41 50     1.316    2.325  173.3    2.9   268   10.2 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   16 33 30.9   -20 41 10     1.313    2.323  174.4    2.4   266   10.2 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   16 32 29.4   -20 40 30     1.310    2.322  175.6    1.9   262   10.1 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   16 31 27.6   -20 39 48     1.307    2.320  176.8    1.4   257   10.1 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   16 30 25.3   -20 39 05     1.305    2.318  177.8    0.9   246   10.0 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   16 29 22.7   -20 38 21     1.303    2.316  178.7    0.6   217   10.0 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   16 28 19.9   -20 37 36     1.301    2.314  178.7    0.6   161   10.0 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   16 27 16.9   -20 36 51     1.299    2.312  177.9    0.9   130   10.0 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   16 26 13.8   -20 36 05     1.297    2.311  176.8    1.4   119   10.1 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   16 25 10.8   -20 35 18     1.296    2.309  175.7    1.9   113   10.1 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   16 24 07.9   -20 34 32     1.295    2.307  174.5    2.4   110   10.1 
2026-06-05 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 

    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.