(124) Alkeste
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 May 2026	13.6	2.638 AU	3.264 AU	00h05m	+01°30'	44.3°	15.5°
Opposition	14 Oct 2026	11.6	2.758 AU	1.761 AU	01h21m	+07°25'	178.7°	0.5°

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 Alkeste are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0784099
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6298480
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.96348
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 187.90218
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 61.59313
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 49.17832
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 249.46321
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.60639
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.26            
        

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
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   00 05 05.2   +01 30 49     3.264    2.638   44.3   15.5   247   13.6 
2026-05-07 05:13 UT   00 05 24.0   +01 32 46     3.262    2.638   44.5   15.5   247   13.6 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   00 06 31.8   +01 39 47     3.255    2.639   44.9   15.7   247   13.6 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   00 07 58.2   +01 48 43     3.247    2.640   45.5   15.8   247   13.6 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   00 09 24.2   +01 57 36     3.239    2.640   46.1   16.0   247   13.6 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   00 10 50.0   +02 06 27     3.230    2.641   46.6   16.1   247   13.6 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   00 12 15.4   +02 15 16     3.222    2.642   47.2   16.3   247   13.6 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   00 13 40.5   +02 24 02     3.213    2.643   47.8   16.5   247   13.6 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   00 15 05.3   +02 32 46     3.204    2.644   48.4   16.6   247   13.6 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   00 16 29.7   +02 41 28     3.196    2.645   49.0   16.8   247   13.6 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   00 17 53.9   +02 50 06     3.187    2.645   49.6   16.9   247   13.6 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   00 19 17.6   +02 58 42     3.178    2.646   50.2   17.1   247   13.6 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   00 20 41.1   +03 07 16     3.169    2.647   50.7   17.2   247   13.6 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   00 22 04.2   +03 15 46     3.159    2.648   51.3   17.4   247   13.6 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   00 23 26.9   +03 24 14     3.150    2.649   51.9   17.5   247   13.6 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   00 24 49.2   +03 32 38     3.141    2.650   52.5   17.6   247   13.6 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   00 26 11.2   +03 41 00     3.131    2.650   53.1   17.8   247   13.6 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   00 27 32.9   +03 49 19     3.122    2.651   53.7   17.9   247   13.6 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   00 28 54.1   +03 57 34     3.112    2.652   54.3   18.1   247   13.6 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   00 30 15.0   +04 05 47     3.102    2.653   54.9   18.2   247   13.6 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   00 31 35.5   +04 13 56     3.093    2.654   55.5   18.3   247   13.6 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   00 32 55.6   +04 22 02     3.083    2.654   56.1   18.5   247   13.6 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   00 34 15.3   +04 30 05     3.073    2.655   56.7   18.6   247   13.6 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   00 35 34.7   +04 38 05     3.063    2.656   57.3   18.7   247   13.6 

    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.