(201) Penelope
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Sep 2026	14.4	3.158 AU	4.151 AU	11h17m	+05°17'	7.5°	2.4°
Opposition	9 Apr 2027	12.7	3.000 AU	2.002 AU	13h20m	-02°11'	174.1°	2.0°

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 Penelope are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1811029
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6789294
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.76733
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 156.75564
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 181.54054
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 167.90895
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 158.28839
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.15479
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.38            
        

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
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   11 17 55.6   +05 17 06     4.151    3.158    7.5    2.4   298   14.4 
2026-09-19 16:36 UT   11 18 50.7   +05 11 49     4.150    3.158    7.9    2.5   298   14.4 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   11 19 15.3   +05 09 28     4.149    3.158    8.1    2.6   298   14.4 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   11 20 35.0   +05 01 50     4.146    3.157    8.7    2.8   298   14.4 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   11 21 54.6   +04 54 12     4.143    3.157    9.4    3.0   298   14.4 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   11 23 14.1   +04 46 33     4.140    3.157   10.0    3.2   297   14.4 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   11 24 33.6   +04 38 55     4.137    3.157   10.6    3.4   297   14.5 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   11 25 53.1   +04 31 16     4.134    3.156   11.2    3.5   297   14.5 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   11 27 12.4   +04 23 37     4.131    3.156   11.8    3.7   297   14.5 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   11 28 31.7   +04 15 59     4.127    3.156   12.5    3.9   297   14.5 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   11 29 50.9   +04 08 20     4.123    3.155   13.1    4.1   297   14.5 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   11 31 10.1   +04 00 42     4.119    3.155   13.7    4.3   297   14.5 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   11 32 29.2   +03 53 03     4.115    3.155   14.4    4.5   297   14.5 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   11 33 48.2   +03 45 25     4.111    3.154   15.0    4.7   296   14.5 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   11 35 07.1   +03 37 47     4.107    3.154   15.6    4.9   296   14.5 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   11 36 26.0   +03 30 09     4.102    3.154   16.3    5.1   296   14.5 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   11 37 44.8   +03 22 32     4.097    3.153   16.9    5.3   296   14.5 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   11 39 03.5   +03 14 55     4.092    3.153   17.5    5.5   296   14.5 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   11 40 22.1   +03 07 18     4.087    3.153   18.2    5.7   296   14.6 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   11 41 40.7   +02 59 42     4.082    3.152   18.8    5.9   296   14.6 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   11 42 59.1   +02 52 06     4.077    3.152   19.4    6.1   296   14.6 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   11 44 17.4   +02 44 31     4.071    3.152   20.1    6.2   296   14.6 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   11 45 35.7   +02 36 56     4.066    3.151   20.7    6.4   296   14.6 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   11 46 53.8   +02 29 22     4.060    3.151   21.3    6.6   296   14.6 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   11 48 11.8   +02 21 49     4.054    3.151   22.0    6.8   296   14.6 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   11 49 29.7   +02 14 17     4.048    3.150   22.6    7.0   296   14.6 

    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.