(306) Unitas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Jan 2026	13.6	2.154 AU	2.824 AU	17h33m	-17°56'	39.2°	16.8°
Opposition	10 Aug 2026	10.4	2.002 AU	0.988 AU	21h23m	-14°19'	178.5°	0.8°

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 Unitas are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1520789
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3574680
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.27810
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 141.78206
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 167.92146
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 294.61935
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 129.79801
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 1.51904
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.62            
        

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
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   17 33 37.1   -17 56 22     2.824    2.154   39.2   16.8   279   13.6 
2026-01-23 10:01 UT   17 34 31.9   -17 56 50     2.821    2.153   39.4   16.9   279   13.6 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   17 35 48.4   -17 57 27     2.816    2.152   39.7   17.0   279   13.6 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   17 37 59.6   -17 58 24     2.807    2.151   40.2   17.2   279   13.6 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   17 40 10.8   -17 59 15     2.798    2.149   40.7   17.4   278   13.6 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   17 42 22.0   -17 59 59     2.789    2.148   41.2   17.6   278   13.6 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   17 44 33.0   -18 00 35     2.780    2.146   41.7   17.8   278   13.6 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   17 46 44.0   -18 01 05     2.770    2.145   42.2   18.0   277   13.6 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   17 48 55.0   -18 01 27     2.761    2.143   42.7   18.1   277   13.6 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   17 51 05.8   -18 01 43     2.752    2.142   43.1   18.3   277   13.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   17 53 16.5   -18 01 51     2.742    2.140   43.6   18.5   276   13.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   17 55 27.2   -18 01 52     2.733    2.139   44.1   18.7   276   13.6 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   17 57 37.7   -18 01 46     2.724    2.137   44.6   18.9   276   13.6 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   17 59 48.2   -18 01 34     2.714    2.136   45.1   19.1   275   13.6 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   18 01 58.5   -18 01 14     2.705    2.134   45.6   19.3   275   13.6 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   18 04 08.7   -18 00 48     2.695    2.133   46.1   19.5   275   13.5 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   18 06 18.8   -18 00 14     2.685    2.131   46.6   19.6   275   13.5 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   18 08 28.8   -17 59 34     2.676    2.130   47.1   19.8   274   13.5 

    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.