(156) Xanthippe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	7 Feb 2026	12.2	2.518 AU	1.554 AU	09h06m	+00°18'	164.4°	6.0°
Today	15 Mar 2026	12.7	2.436 AU	1.622 AU	08h41m	+03°01'	135.9°	16.5°

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 Xanthippe are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2217992
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7342473
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.76368
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 241.72686
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 338.82624
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 285.63729
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 220.83315
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -3.51177
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.52            
        

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
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   08 41 32.8   +03 01 09     1.622    2.436  135.9   16.5    90   12.7 
2026-03-15 21:24 UT   08 41 17.3   +03 05 47     1.627    2.434  135.0   16.8    90   12.7 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   08 41 15.5   +03 06 20     1.628    2.434  134.9   16.8    90   12.7 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   08 41 00.0   +03 11 29     1.634    2.432  133.9   17.1    91   12.7 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   08 40 46.3   +03 16 35     1.640    2.430  132.9   17.5    91   12.7 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   08 40 34.5   +03 21 38     1.647    2.427  131.9   17.8    92   12.7 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   08 40 24.4   +03 26 38     1.653    2.425  130.9   18.1    92   12.8 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   08 40 16.2   +03 31 34     1.660    2.423  130.0   18.4    93   12.8 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   08 40 09.8   +03 36 27     1.667    2.421  129.0   18.7    93   12.8 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   08 40 05.2   +03 41 15     1.674    2.418  128.0   18.9    94   12.8 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   08 40 02.5   +03 45 59     1.681    2.416  127.1   19.2    94   12.8 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   08 40 01.6   +03 50 39     1.688    2.414  126.1   19.5    95   12.8 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   08 40 02.6   +03 55 13     1.695    2.412  125.2   19.8    95   12.9 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   08 40 05.4   +03 59 43     1.703    2.410  124.2   20.0    96   12.9 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   08 40 09.9   +04 04 07     1.711    2.407  123.3   20.3    96   12.9 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   08 40 16.3   +04 08 27     1.718    2.405  122.3   20.5    96   12.9 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   08 40 24.5   +04 12 40     1.726    2.403  121.4   20.8    97   12.9 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   08 40 34.4   +04 16 48     1.734    2.401  120.5   21.0    97   12.9 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   08 40 46.2   +04 20 51     1.742    2.399  119.6   21.2    97   13.0 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   08 40 59.6   +04 24 47     1.750    2.396  118.7   21.5    98   13.0 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   08 41 14.8   +04 28 37     1.759    2.394  117.8   21.7    98   13.0 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   08 41 31.8   +04 32 22     1.767    2.392  116.9   21.9    98   13.0 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   08 41 50.4   +04 35 59     1.776    2.390  116.0   22.1    99   13.0 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   08 42 10.7   +04 39 31     1.784    2.388  115.1   22.3    99   13.0 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   08 42 32.7   +04 42 56     1.793    2.385  114.3   22.5    99   13.0 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   08 42 56.4   +04 46 14     1.802    2.383  113.4   22.7   100   13.1 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   08 43 21.8   +04 49 26     1.810    2.381  112.5   22.9   100   13.1 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   08 43 48.7   +04 52 30     1.819    2.379  111.7   23.0   100   13.1 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   08 44 17.3   +04 55 28     1.828    2.377  110.8   23.2   101   13.1 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   08 44 47.5   +04 58 19     1.837    2.375  110.0   23.4   101   13.1 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   08 45 19.3   +05 01 03     1.846    2.373  109.2   23.5   101   13.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   08 45 52.7   +05 03 39     1.855    2.370  108.3   23.7   101   13.1 

    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.