(118) Peitho
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Jan 2026	14.2	2.737 AU	3.715 AU	19h59m	-26°01'	5.6°	2.0°
Opposition	14 Sep 2026	11.9	2.369 AU	1.374 AU	23h47m	-13°28'	168.8°	4.7°

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 Peitho are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1633907
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4378880
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.74653
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 47.63437
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 33.09673
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 212.20808
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 80.49125
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.22097
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.81            
        

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
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   19 59 19.7   -26 01 18     3.715    2.737    5.6    2.0   188   14.2 
2026-01-19 14:55 UT   20 00 28.1   -25 58 28     3.714    2.736    5.8    2.1   191   14.2 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   20 01 09.7   -25 56 43     3.713    2.736    5.9    2.1   193   14.2 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   20 02 59.7   -25 52 04     3.711    2.735    6.1    2.2   198   14.2 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   20 04 49.5   -25 47 21     3.710    2.734    6.5    2.3   203   14.2 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   20 06 39.3   -25 42 34     3.708    2.733    6.8    2.5   207   14.2 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   20 08 28.9   -25 37 43     3.706    2.732    7.2    2.6   210   14.2 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   20 10 18.5   -25 32 49     3.703    2.731    7.6    2.7   213   14.2 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   20 12 08.0   -25 27 51     3.701    2.730    8.1    2.9   216   14.3 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   20 13 57.3   -25 22 50     3.698    2.728    8.5    3.1   218   14.3 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   20 15 46.5   -25 17 45     3.696    2.727    9.0    3.2   221   14.3 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   20 17 35.7   -25 12 36     3.693    2.726    9.5    3.4   223   14.3 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   20 19 24.6   -25 07 24     3.690    2.725   10.0    3.6   224   14.3 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 21 13.5   -25 02 09     3.687    2.724   10.5    3.8   226   14.3 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 23 02.2   -24 56 50     3.684    2.723   11.0    4.0   227   14.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 24 50.9   -24 51 28     3.680    2.722   11.5    4.2   229   14.3 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 26 39.3   -24 46 02     3.677    2.721   12.1    4.3   230   14.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 28 27.7   -24 40 33     3.673    2.720   12.6    4.5   231   14.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   20 30 15.9   -24 35 01     3.669    2.718   13.1    4.7   232   14.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   20 32 03.9   -24 29 25     3.665    2.717   13.7    4.9   233   14.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   20 33 51.9   -24 23 46     3.661    2.716   14.2    5.1   233   14.3 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   20 35 39.6   -24 18 04     3.657    2.715   14.8    5.3   234   14.4 

    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.