(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	13 Jun 2025	10.6	2.341 AU	1.419 AU	17h21m	-55°32'	147.7°	13.4°
Today	17 Jun 2025	10.6	2.345 AU	1.421 AU	17h16m	-55°02'	148.0°	13.3°

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 Niobe are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1769568
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7546232
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24271
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90888
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.05075
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 18.04959
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.69965
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21012
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.57            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   17 16 36.2   -55 02 06     1.421    2.345  148.0   13.3    11   10.6 
2025-06-17 05:47 UT   17 16 16.2   -54 59 51     1.421    2.345  148.0   13.3    11   10.6 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   17 15 13.6   -54 52 38     1.422    2.346  148.0   13.3    13   10.6 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   17 13 52.4   -54 42 47     1.423    2.347  148.0   13.3    16   10.6 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   17 12 32.5   -54 32 35     1.425    2.348  147.9   13.3    18   10.6 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   17 11 14.2   -54 22 02     1.426    2.350  147.9   13.3    20   10.6 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   17 09 57.5   -54 11 08     1.428    2.351  147.7   13.3    23   10.6 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   17 08 42.7   -53 59 54     1.430    2.352  147.6   13.4    25   10.7 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   17 07 29.7   -53 48 21     1.433    2.353  147.4   13.5    28   10.7 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   17 06 18.6   -53 36 29     1.435    2.355  147.2   13.5    30   10.7 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   17 05 09.7   -53 24 20     1.438    2.356  146.9   13.6    32   10.7 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   17 04 02.9   -53 11 54     1.441    2.357  146.6   13.7    34   10.7 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   17 02 58.3   -52 59 11     1.444    2.358  146.3   13.8    36   10.7 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   17 01 56.1   -52 46 13     1.448    2.359  145.9   14.0    39   10.7 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   17 00 56.3   -52 33 00     1.451    2.361  145.6   14.1    41   10.7 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   16 59 58.8   -52 19 34     1.455    2.362  145.2   14.2    43   10.7 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   16 59 03.9   -52 05 55     1.459    2.363  144.7   14.4    45   10.7 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   16 58 11.5   -51 52 03     1.464    2.365  144.3   14.5    47   10.8 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   16 57 21.6   -51 38 01     1.468    2.366  143.8   14.7    48   10.8 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   16 56 34.4   -51 23 48     1.473    2.367  143.3   14.9    50   10.8 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   16 55 49.7   -51 09 26     1.478    2.368  142.8   15.1    52   10.8 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   16 55 07.6   -50 54 55     1.483    2.370  142.2   15.2    54   10.8 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   16 54 28.2   -50 40 16     1.488    2.371  141.7   15.4    55   10.8 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   16 53 51.4   -50 25 29     1.494    2.372  141.1   15.6    57   10.8 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   16 53 17.3   -50 10 37     1.499    2.374  140.5   15.8    58   10.9 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   16 52 45.8   -49 55 39     1.505    2.375  139.9   16.0    60   10.9 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   16 52 16.9   -49 40 35     1.512    2.376  139.3   16.2    61   10.9 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   16 51 50.6   -49 25 28     1.518    2.378  138.6   16.4    63   10.9 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   16 51 27.0   -49 10 17     1.525    2.379  138.0   16.6    64   10.9 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   16 51 05.9   -48 55 04     1.531    2.380  137.3   16.8    65   10.9 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   16 50 47.4   -48 39 48     1.538    2.382  136.7   17.0    66   11.0 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   16 50 31.5   -48 24 31     1.545    2.383  136.0   17.2    68   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.