(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Mar 2025	11.6	2.277 AU	1.902 AU	17h34m	-50°59'	98.6°	25.7°
Opposition	13 Jun 2025	10.6	2.341 AU	1.419 AU	17h21m	-55°32'	147.7°	13.4°

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 Niobe are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1769568
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7546232
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24272
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90887
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.05076
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 18.04959
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.69965
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21013
            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
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   17 34 26.7   -50 59 30     1.902    2.277   98.6   25.7   277   11.6 
2025-03-26 11:02 UT   17 35 06.9   -51 03 21     1.898    2.277   98.9   25.6   278   11.6 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   17 35 53.6   -51 07 53     1.893    2.277   99.3   25.6   278   11.6 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   17 37 18.8   -51 16 13     1.883    2.278   99.9   25.6   278   11.6 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   17 38 42.2   -51 24 31     1.873    2.278  100.5   25.5   278   11.6 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   17 40 03.8   -51 32 46     1.864    2.279  101.2   25.5   278   11.5 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   17 41 23.6   -51 40 59     1.854    2.279  101.8   25.4   279   11.5 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   17 42 41.5   -51 49 08     1.845    2.280  102.5   25.3   279   11.5 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   17 43 57.5   -51 57 15     1.835    2.280  103.1   25.3   279   11.5 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   17 45 11.6   -52 05 19     1.826    2.281  103.8   25.2   279   11.5 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   17 46 23.6   -52 13 21     1.816    2.281  104.4   25.1   280   11.5 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   17 47 33.6   -52 21 19     1.807    2.282  105.1   25.0   280   11.5 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   17 48 41.6   -52 29 15     1.798    2.282  105.7   25.0   280   11.5 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   17 49 47.4   -52 37 08     1.789    2.283  106.4   24.9   281   11.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   17 50 51.0   -52 44 58     1.780    2.283  107.0   24.8   281   11.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   17 51 52.4   -52 52 45     1.770    2.284  107.7   24.7   281   11.4 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   17 52 51.6   -53 00 28     1.761    2.285  108.4   24.6   282   11.4 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   17 53 48.5   -53 08 09     1.752    2.285  109.1   24.5   282   11.4 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   17 54 43.0   -53 15 47     1.744    2.286  109.7   24.4   282   11.4 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   17 55 35.2   -53 23 21     1.735    2.286  110.4   24.3   283   11.4 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   17 56 24.9   -53 30 51     1.726    2.287  111.1   24.2   283   11.3 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   17 57 12.1   -53 38 18     1.717    2.288  111.8   24.0   284   11.3 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   17 57 56.8   -53 45 42     1.709    2.288  112.5   23.9   284   11.3 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   17 58 38.9   -53 53 01     1.700    2.289  113.1   23.8   285   11.3 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   17 59 18.3   -54 00 17     1.692    2.290  113.8   23.6   285   11.3 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   17 59 55.1   -54 07 28     1.683    2.290  114.5   23.5   286   11.3 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   18 00 29.2   -54 14 35     1.675    2.291  115.2   23.4   286   11.3 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   18 01 00.5   -54 21 37     1.667    2.292  115.9   23.2   287   11.3 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   18 01 28.9   -54 28 35     1.659    2.292  116.6   23.1   287   11.2 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   18 01 54.6   -54 35 27     1.650    2.293  117.3   22.9   288   11.2 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   18 02 17.3   -54 42 14     1.643    2.294  118.0   22.8   289   11.2 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   18 02 37.0   -54 48 55     1.635    2.294  118.7   22.6   289   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.