(80) Sappho
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	16 Dec 2025	10.6	2.182 AU	1.209 AU	05h41m	+11°56'	168.5°	5.1°
Today	30 Jan 2026	11.8	2.284 AU	1.546 AU	05h12m	+11°51'	127.6°	20.0°

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 Sappho are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1996711
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2962820
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.67609
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 218.63849
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 139.69331
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 57.25860
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 178.65678
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.59987
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.48            
        

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
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   05 12 40.2   +11 51 13     1.546    2.284  127.6   20.0    77   11.8 
2026-01-30 09:55 UT   05 12 40.9   +11 52 18     1.551    2.285  127.2   20.1    77   11.8 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   05 12 42.6   +11 53 51     1.558    2.287  126.7   20.2    77   11.8 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   05 12 46.9   +11 56 33     1.570    2.289  125.7   20.5    77   11.8 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   05 12 53.2   +11 59 19     1.582    2.291  124.7   20.7    78   11.9 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   05 13 01.3   +12 02 09     1.594    2.294  123.8   20.9    78   11.9 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   05 13 11.3   +12 05 03     1.606    2.296  122.9   21.1    78   11.9 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   05 13 23.1   +12 07 60     1.619    2.298  121.9   21.4    78   11.9 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   05 13 36.7   +12 10 60     1.632    2.300  121.0   21.6    79   12.0 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   05 13 52.2   +12 14 03     1.644    2.303  120.1   21.8    79   12.0 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   05 14 09.4   +12 17 09     1.657    2.305  119.2   21.9    79   12.0 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   05 14 28.4   +12 20 18     1.670    2.307  118.3   22.1    80   12.0 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   05 14 49.1   +12 23 29     1.683    2.309  117.4   22.3    80   12.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   05 15 11.5   +12 26 43     1.696    2.312  116.5   22.5    80   12.1 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   05 15 35.6   +12 29 59     1.709    2.314  115.6   22.6    80   12.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   05 16 01.4   +12 33 17     1.723    2.316  114.7   22.8    81   12.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   05 16 28.9   +12 36 36     1.736    2.318  113.9   22.9    81   12.2 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   05 16 58.0   +12 39 57     1.749    2.321  113.0   23.1    81   12.2 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   05 17 28.7   +12 43 19     1.763    2.323  112.1   23.2    81   12.2 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   05 18 01.0   +12 46 43     1.776    2.325  111.3   23.3    82   12.2 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   05 18 34.9   +12 50 07     1.790    2.327  110.4   23.5    82   12.3 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   05 19 10.3   +12 53 33     1.804    2.330  109.6   23.6    82   12.3 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   05 19 47.2   +12 56 59     1.818    2.332  108.8   23.7    82   12.3 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   05 20 25.6   +13 00 25     1.832    2.334  107.9   23.8    83   12.3 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   05 21 05.5   +13 03 52     1.846    2.336  107.1   23.9    83   12.3 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   05 21 46.8   +13 07 19     1.860    2.338  106.3   24.0    83   12.4 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   05 22 29.6   +13 10 45     1.874    2.341  105.5   24.0    83   12.4 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   05 23 13.7   +13 14 12     1.888    2.343  104.7   24.1    84   12.4 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   05 23 59.2   +13 17 38     1.902    2.345  103.9   24.2    84   12.4 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   05 24 46.0   +13 21 04     1.916    2.347  103.1   24.3    84   12.4 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   05 25 34.2   +13 24 29     1.930    2.349  102.3   24.3    84   12.5 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   05 26 23.6   +13 27 53     1.944    2.352  101.5   24.4    85   12.5 

    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.