(80) Sappho
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Jul 2025	12.4	1.888 AU	2.221 AU	03h43m	+20°43'	57.9°	27.1°
Opposition	16 Dec 2025	10.6	2.182 AU	1.209 AU	05h41m	+11°56'	168.5°	5.1°

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)                : 0.1995691
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2957890
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.67699
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 218.64064
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 139.63963
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 0.64383
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 178.60542
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.60665
            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
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   03 43 34.9   +20 43 42     2.221    1.888   57.9   27.1   258   12.4 
2025-07-19 01:54 UT   03 43 45.5   +20 44 02     2.220    1.888   57.9   27.1   258   12.4 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   03 45 48.3   +20 47 48     2.213    1.889   58.3   27.2   258   12.4 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   03 48 01.4   +20 51 44     2.206    1.890   58.8   27.4   258   12.4 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   03 50 14.1   +20 55 32     2.199    1.892   59.2   27.5   258   12.4 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   03 52 26.4   +20 59 10     2.192    1.893   59.6   27.6   258   12.4 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   03 54 38.3   +21 02 40     2.184    1.894   60.1   27.7   258   12.4 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   03 56 49.8   +21 06 00     2.177    1.896   60.5   27.8   259   12.4 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   03 59 00.9   +21 09 12     2.170    1.897   61.0   27.9   259   12.4 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   04 01 11.5   +21 12 15     2.162    1.898   61.4   28.0   259   12.4 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   04 03 21.7   +21 15 09     2.155    1.900   61.9   28.1   259   12.4 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   04 05 31.4   +21 17 53     2.147    1.901   62.3   28.2   259   12.4 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   04 07 40.6   +21 20 29     2.139    1.903   62.8   28.3   259   12.3 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   04 09 49.4   +21 22 56     2.132    1.904   63.2   28.4   260   12.3 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   04 11 57.7   +21 25 14     2.124    1.905   63.7   28.5   260   12.3 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   04 14 05.4   +21 27 23     2.117    1.907   64.1   28.6   260   12.3 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   04 16 12.6   +21 29 23     2.109    1.908   64.6   28.7   260   12.3 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   04 18 19.3   +21 31 15     2.101    1.910   65.1   28.8   260   12.3 

    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.