(287) Nephthys
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Jul 2026	11.4	2.308 AU	1.361 AU	20h58m	-10°59'	151.9°	12.0°
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) : 142.22638
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 122.46679
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 27.41248
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 85.09444
            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
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   20 58 50.5   -10 59 48     1.361    2.308  151.9   12.0   243   11.4 
2026-07-09 07:08 UT   20 58 39.7   -11 01 36     1.359    2.308  152.2   11.8   242   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 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   20 51 45.1   -12 08 55     1.318    2.310  163.2    7.3   236   11.2 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   20 50 56.4   -12 16 41     1.315    2.310  164.4    6.8   235   11.2 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   20 50 06.9   -12 24 34     1.312    2.310  165.5    6.3   234   11.1 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   20 49 16.6   -12 32 35     1.310    2.310  166.6    5.8   233   11.1 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   20 48 25.5   -12 40 43     1.308    2.310  167.7    5.4   231   11.1 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   20 47 33.8   -12 48 57     1.306    2.311  168.9    4.9   229   11.1 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   20 46 41.4   -12 57 17     1.304    2.311  170.0    4.4   226   11.0 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   20 45 48.5   -13 05 43     1.302    2.311  171.0    3.9   223   11.0 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   20 44 55.2   -13 14 14     1.301    2.311  172.1    3.5   219   11.0 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   20 44 01.4   -13 22 49     1.300    2.311  173.1    3.0   214   10.9 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   20 43 07.4   -13 31 29     1.299    2.312  174.0    2.6   207   10.9 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   20 42 13.0   -13 40 12     1.299    2.312  174.8    2.3   198   10.9 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   20 41 18.6   -13 48 58     1.299    2.312  175.4    2.0   185   10.9 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   20 40 24.0   -13 57 47     1.299    2.312  175.7    1.9   170   10.9 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   20 39 29.3   -14 06 38     1.299    2.312  175.8    1.9   154   10.9 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   20 38 34.7   -14 15 30     1.299    2.312  175.5    2.0   139   10.9 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   20 37 40.3   -14 24 24     1.300    2.313  174.9    2.2   126   10.9 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   20 36 46.0   -14 33 19     1.301    2.313  174.1    2.6   117   10.9 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   20 35 52.0   -14 42 14     1.303    2.313  173.2    3.0   109   10.9 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   20 34 58.4   -14 51 09     1.304    2.313  172.2    3.4   104   11.0 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   20 34 05.2   -15 00 02     1.306    2.313  171.2    3.9   100   11.0 

    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.