(306) Unitas
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 Feb 2026	13.5	2.133 AU	2.695 AU	18h04m	-18°00'	46.1°	19.5°
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
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   18 04 08.7   -18 00 48     2.695    2.133   46.1   19.5   275   13.5 
2026-02-06 10:29 UT   18 05 05.6   -18 00 34     2.691    2.132   46.3   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 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   18 10 38.6   -17 58 46     2.666    2.128   47.6   20.0   274   13.5 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   18 12 48.2   -17 57 52     2.656    2.127   48.1   20.2   274   13.5 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   18 14 57.7   -17 56 51     2.646    2.126   48.6   20.4   273   13.5 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   18 17 07.0   -17 55 43     2.636    2.124   49.0   20.5   273   13.5 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   18 19 16.1   -17 54 29     2.626    2.123   49.5   20.7   273   13.5 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   18 21 25.1   -17 53 08     2.616    2.121   50.0   20.9   272   13.5 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   18 23 33.8   -17 51 40     2.606    2.120   50.5   21.1   272   13.5 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   18 25 42.4   -17 50 05     2.596    2.118   51.0   21.3   272   13.5 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   18 27 50.7   -17 48 24     2.586    2.117   51.5   21.4   272   13.5 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   18 29 58.8   -17 46 37     2.575    2.116   52.0   21.6   271   13.5 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   18 32 06.7   -17 44 43     2.565    2.114   52.5   21.8   271   13.5 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   18 34 14.3   -17 42 42     2.555    2.113   53.0   21.9   271   13.5 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   18 36 21.7   -17 40 35     2.544    2.111   53.5   22.1   270   13.5 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   18 38 28.8   -17 38 22     2.534    2.110   54.0   22.3   270   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.