(201) Penelope
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 Jul 2025	14.1	2.795 AU	3.769 AU	06h29m	+19°23'	14.2°	5.1°
Opposition	28 Jan 2026	12.8	3.072 AU	2.089 AU	08h39m	+14°12'	175.9°	1.3°

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 Penelope are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1794358
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6803136
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.75565
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 156.86887
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 181.33806
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 78.29807
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 158.20019
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.13418
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.39            
        

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
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   06 29 04.5   +19 23 57     3.769    2.795   14.2    5.1   257   14.1 
2025-07-13 10:13 UT   06 29 47.5   +19 23 30     3.769    2.796   14.4    5.2   258   14.1 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   06 30 45.4   +19 22 52     3.768    2.797   14.7    5.3   258   14.1 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   06 32 26.1   +19 21 42     3.766    2.798   15.2    5.5   259   14.1 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   06 34 06.7   +19 20 29     3.764    2.800   15.8    5.7   260   14.1 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   06 35 47.0   +19 19 11     3.763    2.802   16.3    5.9   260   14.1 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   06 37 27.1   +19 17 48     3.761    2.804   16.9    6.0   261   14.2 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   06 39 07.0   +19 16 22     3.758    2.805   17.4    6.2   262   14.2 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   06 40 46.6   +19 14 51     3.756    2.807   18.0    6.4   262   14.2 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   06 42 26.1   +19 13 16     3.754    2.809   18.5    6.6   263   14.2 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   06 44 05.3   +19 11 37     3.751    2.811   19.1    6.8   263   14.2 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   06 45 44.3   +19 09 54     3.748    2.812   19.6    7.0   264   14.2 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   06 47 23.0   +19 08 07     3.746    2.814   20.2    7.1   264   14.2 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   06 49 01.5   +19 06 17     3.743    2.816   20.7    7.3   265   14.2 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   06 50 39.7   +19 04 22     3.740    2.817   21.3    7.5   265   14.2 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   06 52 17.6   +19 02 23     3.736    2.819   21.8    7.7   266   14.2 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   06 53 55.3   +19 00 20     3.733    2.821   22.4    7.9   266   14.2 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   06 55 32.8   +18 58 13     3.730    2.823   23.0    8.1   266   14.2 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   06 57 09.9   +18 56 03     3.726    2.824   23.5    8.2   267   14.3 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   06 58 46.8   +18 53 49     3.722    2.826   24.1    8.4   267   14.3 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   07 00 23.3   +18 51 31     3.718    2.828   24.6    8.6   268   14.3 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   07 01 59.6   +18 49 10     3.714    2.829   25.2    8.8   268   14.3 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   07 03 35.6   +18 46 45     3.710    2.831   25.8    9.0   268   14.3 

    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.