(287) Nephthys
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	18 Jun 2026	11.9	2.305 AU	1.515 AU	21h05m	-09°36'	130.1°	19.7°
Opposition	31 Jul 2026	10.9	2.312 AU	1.299 AU	20h40m	-13°53'	175.6°	1.9°

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 Nephthys are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0238262
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3531900
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.03398
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 142.22637
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 122.46679
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 27.41247
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 85.09443
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 8.45312
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.61            
        

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
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   21 05 32.8   -09 36 56     1.515    2.305  130.1   19.7   247   11.9 
2026-06-18 16:29 UT   21 05 31.4   -09 38 14     1.509    2.305  130.8   19.5   247   11.9 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   21 05 30.5   -09 38 52     1.506    2.305  131.1   19.4   247   11.9 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   21 05 26.5   -09 40 59     1.497    2.305  132.1   19.1   247   11.9 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   21 05 20.8   -09 43 18     1.489    2.305  133.1   18.8   247   11.9 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   21 05 13.3   -09 45 50     1.480    2.305  134.0   18.5   247   11.9 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   21 05 04.1   -09 48 34     1.472    2.306  135.0   18.1   247   11.8 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   21 04 53.3   -09 51 29     1.464    2.306  136.0   17.8   246   11.8 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   21 04 40.7   -09 54 37     1.456    2.306  137.1   17.5   246   11.8 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   21 04 26.4   -09 57 58     1.448    2.306  138.1   17.1   246   11.8 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   21 04 10.4   -10 01 30     1.440    2.306  139.1   16.8   246   11.7 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   21 03 52.7   -10 05 15     1.432    2.306  140.1   16.4   246   11.7 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   21 03 33.3   -10 09 12     1.425    2.307  141.2   16.0   245   11.7 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   21 03 12.3   -10 13 21     1.418    2.307  142.2   15.7   245   11.7 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   21 02 49.6   -10 17 43     1.411    2.307  143.3   15.3   245   11.6 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   21 02 25.2   -10 22 16     1.404    2.307  144.3   14.9   245   11.6 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   21 01 59.3   -10 27 02     1.397    2.307  145.4   14.5   244   11.6 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   21 01 31.7   -10 32 00     1.391    2.307  146.5   14.1   244   11.6 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   21 01 02.5   -10 37 10     1.384    2.307  147.5   13.7   244   11.5 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   21 00 31.8   -10 42 32     1.378    2.308  148.6   13.3   244   11.5 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   20 59 59.5   -10 48 06     1.372    2.308  149.7   12.8   243   11.5 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   20 59 25.7   -10 53 51     1.366    2.308  150.8   12.4   243   11.5 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   20 58 50.5   -10 59 48     1.361    2.308  151.9   12.0   243   11.4 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   20 58 13.7   -11 05 56     1.356    2.308  153.0   11.5   242   11.4 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   20 57 35.6   -11 12 15     1.351    2.308  154.1   11.1   242   11.4 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   20 56 56.1   -11 18 45     1.346    2.309  155.3   10.6   241   11.4 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   20 56 15.2   -11 25 26     1.341    2.309  156.4   10.2   241   11.3 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   20 55 33.1   -11 32 17     1.337    2.309  157.5    9.7   240   11.3 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   20 54 49.7   -11 39 18     1.332    2.309  158.7    9.2   240   11.3 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   20 54 05.2   -11 46 28     1.329    2.309  159.8    8.7   239   11.3 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   20 53 19.5   -11 53 48     1.325    2.309  160.9    8.3   238   11.2 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   20 52 32.8   -12 01 18     1.321    2.310  162.1    7.8   237   11.2 

    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.