(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 Feb 2026	12.3	2.501 AU	1.542 AU	08h59m	+00°43'	162.1°	7.0°

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
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   08 59 48.2   +00 43 00     1.542    2.501  162.1    7.0    47   12.3 
2026-02-15 07:09 UT   08 59 32.1   +00 44 09     1.542    2.500  161.9    7.0    48   12.3 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   08 58 54.2   +00 46 55     1.542    2.498  161.5    7.2    50   12.3 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   08 58 00.8   +00 50 58     1.542    2.496  160.8    7.5    53   12.3 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   08 57 08.1   +00 55 09     1.542    2.494  160.1    7.8    56   12.3 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   08 56 16.1   +00 59 27     1.542    2.491  159.3    8.1    59   12.3 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   08 55 24.8   +01 03 51     1.543    2.489  158.5    8.4    61   12.3 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   08 54 34.5   +01 08 22     1.544    2.487  157.6    8.7    64   12.3 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   08 53 45.1   +01 12 58     1.545    2.484  156.7    9.0    66   12.3 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   08 52 56.7   +01 17 41     1.546    2.482  155.8    9.4    68   12.4 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   08 52 09.4   +01 22 28     1.548    2.480  154.9    9.7    70   12.4 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   08 51 23.2   +01 27 20     1.550    2.477  154.0   10.1    72   12.4 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   08 50 38.2   +01 32 16     1.552    2.475  153.0   10.5    73   12.4 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   08 49 54.4   +01 37 16     1.554    2.473  152.0   10.8    75   12.4 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   08 49 11.8   +01 42 20     1.557    2.471  151.1   11.2    76   12.4 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   08 48 30.6   +01 47 27     1.560    2.468  150.1   11.6    77   12.4 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   08 47 50.8   +01 52 36     1.563    2.466  149.1   11.9    79   12.5 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   08 47 12.3   +01 57 48     1.566    2.464  148.1   12.3    80   12.5 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   08 46 35.3   +02 03 02     1.570    2.461  147.1   12.7    81   12.5 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   08 45 59.7   +02 08 18     1.573    2.459  146.0   13.0    82   12.5 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   08 45 25.7   +02 13 35     1.577    2.457  145.0   13.4    83   12.5 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   08 44 53.3   +02 18 53     1.581    2.455  144.0   13.7    84   12.5 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   08 44 22.4   +02 24 11     1.586    2.452  143.0   14.1    85   12.6 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   08 43 53.1   +02 29 30     1.590    2.450  142.0   14.5    86   12.6 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   08 43 25.5   +02 34 49     1.595    2.448  141.0   14.8    86   12.6 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   08 42 59.5   +02 40 07     1.600    2.445  139.9   15.2    87   12.6 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   08 42 35.2   +02 45 25     1.605    2.443  138.9   15.5    88   12.6 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   08 42 12.7   +02 50 41     1.611    2.441  137.9   15.8    88   12.6 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   08 41 51.9   +02 55 56     1.616    2.439  136.9   16.2    89   12.7 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   08 41 32.8   +03 01 09     1.622    2.436  135.9   16.5    90   12.7 
2026-03-16 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 

    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.