(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Aug 2026	12.4	3.039 AU	2.361 AU	00h06m	+21°46'	123.4°	16.2°
Opposition	25 Sep 2026	11.9	3.099 AU	2.162 AU	23h25m	+23°50'	154.8°	7.9°

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 Niobe are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1771298
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7544079
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24487
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90615
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.00318
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 104.31325
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.64513
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21122
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   00 06 08.0   +21 46 51     2.361    3.039  123.4   16.2   232   12.4 
2026-08-09 17:58 UT   00 05 47.4   +21 52 25     2.354    3.040  124.1   16.0   231   12.4 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   00 05 40.3   +21 54 15     2.352    3.041  124.3   16.0   231   12.4 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   00 05 11.2   +22 01 30     2.343    3.042  125.2   15.8   230   12.3 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   00 04 40.7   +22 08 34     2.334    3.043  126.1   15.6   230   12.3 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   00 04 08.8   +22 15 29     2.326    3.045  126.9   15.4   229   12.3 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   00 03 35.5   +22 22 13     2.317    3.046  127.8   15.2   228   12.3 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   00 03 00.9   +22 28 46     2.309    3.047  128.7   15.0   228   12.3 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   00 02 24.9   +22 35 09     2.301    3.049  129.6   14.8   227   12.3 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   00 01 47.7   +22 41 21     2.293    3.050  130.5   14.6   226   12.3 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   00 01 09.1   +22 47 21     2.286    3.051  131.4   14.4   225   12.3 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   00 00 29.3   +22 53 10     2.278    3.052  132.3   14.2   225   12.2 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   23 59 48.2   +22 58 47     2.271    3.054  133.2   14.0   224   12.2 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   23 59 05.8   +23 04 12     2.264    3.055  134.0   13.8   223   12.2 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   23 58 22.2   +23 09 25     2.257    3.056  134.9   13.6   222   12.2 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   23 57 37.5   +23 14 26     2.250    3.058  135.8   13.3   221   12.2 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   23 56 51.6   +23 19 14     2.244    3.059  136.7   13.1   220   12.2 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   23 56 04.6   +23 23 49     2.238    3.060  137.5   12.9   219   12.2 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   23 55 16.4   +23 28 12     2.231    3.062  138.4   12.7   218   12.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   23 54 27.2   +23 32 22     2.226    3.063  139.2   12.4   217   12.1 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   23 53 37.0   +23 36 18     2.220    3.064  140.1   12.2   215   12.1 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   23 52 45.8   +23 40 01     2.215    3.065  140.9   12.0   214   12.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   23 51 53.6   +23 43 30     2.209    3.067  141.7   11.8   213   12.1 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   23 51 00.4   +23 46 46     2.204    3.068  142.6   11.5   212   12.1 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   23 50 06.4   +23 49 48     2.200    3.069  143.4   11.3   210   12.1 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   23 49 11.5   +23 52 36     2.195    3.070  144.2   11.1   209   12.1 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   23 48 15.9   +23 55 10     2.191    3.072  144.9   10.9   207   12.0 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   23 47 19.4   +23 57 29     2.187    3.073  145.7   10.7   206   12.0 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   23 46 22.3   +23 59 35     2.183    3.074  146.5   10.4   204   12.0 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   23 45 24.4   +24 01 25     2.179    3.075  147.2   10.2   202   12.0 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   23 44 26.0   +24 03 02     2.176    3.077  147.9   10.0   201   12.0 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   23 43 27.0   +24 04 24     2.173    3.078  148.6    9.8   199   12.0 

    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.