(80) Sappho
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today28 Mar 202412.42.547 AU1.871 AU16h14m-19°42'122.1°19.4°
Opposition18 May 202411.02.451 AU1.441 AU15h47m-14°56'175.1°2.0°
(80) Sappho - 2024-03-28
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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)                : 0.1997620
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2963634
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.67713
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 218.64522
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 139.59208
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 247.38769
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 178.56256
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.61223
            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. 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
2024-03-28 00:00 UT   16 14 41.8   -19 42 11     1.871    2.547  122.1   19.4   279   12.4 
2024-03-28 12:18 UT   16 14 46.8   -19 40 39     1.865    2.546  122.6   19.3   279   12.4 
2024-03-29 00:00 UT   16 14 51.2   -19 39 10     1.858    2.545  123.1   19.2   279   12.4 
2024-03-30 00:00 UT   16 14 58.9   -19 36 04     1.845    2.543  124.1   19.0   279   12.4 
2024-03-31 00:00 UT   16 15 04.9   -19 32 50     1.833    2.541  125.0   18.8   279   12.4 
2024-04-01 00:00 UT   16 15 09.2   -19 29 30     1.820    2.540  126.0   18.6   279   12.3 
2024-04-02 00:00 UT   16 15 11.7   -19 26 03     1.808    2.538  127.0   18.3   279   12.3 
2024-04-03 00:00 UT   16 15 12.5   -19 22 29     1.795    2.536  128.0   18.1   279   12.3 
2024-04-04 00:00 UT   16 15 11.5   -19 18 48     1.783    2.534  129.0   17.9   279   12.3 
2024-04-05 00:00 UT   16 15 08.8   -19 15 01     1.771    2.533  130.0   17.6   278   12.3 
2024-04-06 00:00 UT   16 15 04.2   -19 11 07     1.759    2.531  131.0   17.4   278   12.2 
2024-04-07 00:00 UT   16 14 57.8   -19 07 05     1.747    2.529  132.0   17.1   278   12.2 
2024-04-08 00:00 UT   16 14 49.7   -19 02 57     1.736    2.527  133.0   16.8   278   12.2 
2024-04-09 00:00 UT   16 14 39.7   -18 58 43     1.724    2.526  134.1   16.6   278   12.2 
2024-04-10 00:00 UT   16 14 28.0   -18 54 21     1.713    2.524  135.1   16.3   278   12.1 
2024-04-11 00:00 UT   16 14 14.4   -18 49 53     1.702    2.522  136.2   16.0   278   12.1 
2024-04-12 00:00 UT   16 13 59.0   -18 45 18     1.691    2.520  137.2   15.7   278   12.1 
2024-04-13 00:00 UT   16 13 41.9   -18 40 36     1.680    2.518  138.3   15.4   277   12.0 
2024-04-14 00:00 UT   16 13 22.9   -18 35 48     1.669    2.517  139.3   15.1   277   12.0 
2024-04-15 00:00 UT   16 13 02.2   -18 30 53     1.659    2.515  140.4   14.7   277   12.0 
2024-04-16 00:00 UT   16 12 39.8   -18 25 52     1.649    2.513  141.5   14.4   277   12.0 
2024-04-17 00:00 UT   16 12 15.6   -18 20 44     1.639    2.511  142.6   14.1   277   11.9 
2024-04-18 00:00 UT   16 11 49.6   -18 15 29     1.629    2.509  143.6   13.7   277   11.9 
2024-04-19 00:00 UT   16 11 22.0   -18 10 09     1.619    2.507  144.7   13.4   276   11.9 
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   16 10 52.6   -18 04 42     1.610    2.506  145.8   13.0   276   11.9 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   16 10 21.5   -17 59 09     1.601    2.504  146.9   12.6   276   11.8 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   16 09 48.8   -17 53 29     1.592    2.502  148.0   12.3   276   11.8 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   16 09 14.5   -17 47 44     1.583    2.500  149.2   11.9   275   11.8 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   16 08 38.5   -17 41 53     1.575    2.498  150.3   11.5   275   11.8 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   16 08 01.0   -17 35 56     1.566    2.496  151.4   11.1   275   11.7 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   16 07 21.9   -17 29 54     1.558    2.494  152.5   10.7   274   11.7 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   16 06 41.3   -17 23 45     1.550    2.492  153.7   10.3   274   11.7 


    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.