(194) Prokne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 Sep 2026	13.9	3.240 AU	4.222 AU	09h51m	+08°47'	11.8°	3.7°
Opposition	12 Mar 2027	12.2	3.118 AU	2.128 AU	11h37m	+08°54'	174.1°	1.9°

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 Prokne are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2374715
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6186237
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.53458
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 159.12173
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.67926
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 160.43364
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 143.60570
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.12494
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.24            
        

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
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   09 51 37.5   +08 47 23     4.222    3.240   11.8    3.7   271   13.9 
2026-09-01 20:58 UT   09 52 46.4   +08 43 03     4.219    3.240   12.3    3.8   272   13.9 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   09 52 56.3   +08 42 25     4.219    3.240   12.4    3.8   272   13.9 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   09 54 15.0   +08 37 25     4.215    3.240   13.0    4.0   273   13.9 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   09 55 33.6   +08 32 24     4.212    3.240   13.6    4.2   274   13.9 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   09 56 52.1   +08 27 21     4.208    3.240   14.2    4.4   275   13.9 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   09 58 10.5   +08 22 17     4.205    3.240   14.8    4.6   276   13.9 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   09 59 28.7   +08 17 12     4.201    3.240   15.4    4.7   276   13.9 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   10 00 46.8   +08 12 06     4.197    3.240   16.0    4.9   277   13.9 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   10 02 04.8   +08 06 59     4.192    3.240   16.7    5.1   278   13.9 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   10 03 22.6   +08 01 51     4.188    3.240   17.3    5.3   279   13.9 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   10 04 40.3   +07 56 42     4.184    3.240   17.9    5.5   279   13.9 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   10 05 57.9   +07 51 31     4.179    3.240   18.5    5.7   280   13.9 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   10 07 15.2   +07 46 20     4.174    3.240   19.1    5.8   280   13.9 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   10 08 32.5   +07 41 09     4.169    3.240   19.8    6.0   281   14.0 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   10 09 49.6   +07 35 56     4.164    3.240   20.4    6.2   281   14.0 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   10 11 06.5   +07 30 43     4.158    3.240   21.0    6.4   282   14.0 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   10 12 23.2   +07 25 29     4.153    3.240   21.7    6.6   282   14.0 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   10 13 39.8   +07 20 15     4.147    3.240   22.3    6.8   283   14.0 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   10 14 56.2   +07 15 00     4.141    3.239   22.9    6.9   283   14.0 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   10 16 12.5   +07 09 45     4.135    3.239   23.6    7.1   283   14.0 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   10 17 28.5   +07 04 29     4.129    3.239   24.2    7.3   284   14.0 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   10 18 44.4   +06 59 13     4.122    3.239   24.9    7.5   284   14.0 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   10 20 00.1   +06 53 57     4.116    3.239   25.5    7.7   284   14.0 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   10 21 15.6   +06 48 41     4.109    3.239   26.1    7.8   285   14.0 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   10 22 30.9   +06 43 24     4.102    3.239   26.8    8.0   285   14.0 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   10 23 46.1   +06 38 07     4.095    3.238   27.4    8.2   285   14.0 

    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.