(124) Alkeste
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	4 Jun 2026	13.5	2.661 AU	3.001 AU	00h43m	+05°24'	61.0°	19.5°
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
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   00 43 22.1   +05 24 51     3.001    2.661   61.0   19.5   247   13.5 
2026-06-04 08:48 UT   00 43 50.1   +05 27 38     2.997    2.661   61.2   19.5   247   13.5 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   00 44 38.5   +05 32 26     2.991    2.662   61.6   19.6   247   13.5 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   00 45 54.4   +05 39 58     2.980    2.663   62.2   19.7   247   13.5 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   00 47 10.0   +05 47 26     2.969    2.663   62.8   19.8   247   13.5 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   00 48 25.0   +05 54 50     2.959    2.664   63.4   19.9   247   13.5 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   00 49 39.6   +06 02 10     2.948    2.665   64.1   20.0   247   13.5 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   00 50 53.8   +06 09 26     2.937    2.666   64.7   20.1   247   13.5 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   00 52 07.4   +06 16 38     2.926    2.667   65.3   20.2   247   13.5 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   00 53 20.6   +06 23 46     2.915    2.667   65.9   20.3   248   13.5 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   00 54 33.2   +06 30 50     2.904    2.668   66.6   20.4   248   13.5 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   00 55 45.3   +06 37 50     2.893    2.669   67.2   20.5   248   13.5 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   00 56 56.9   +06 44 46     2.881    2.670   67.9   20.6   248   13.5 
2026-06-16 00:00 UT   00 58 08.0   +06 51 37     2.870    2.671   68.5   20.7   248   13.5 
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   00 59 18.6   +06 58 24     2.859    2.671   69.1   20.8   248   13.5 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   01 00 28.6   +07 05 06     2.847    2.672   69.8   20.9   248   13.5 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   01 01 38.0   +07 11 44     2.836    2.673   70.4   21.0   248   13.5 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   01 02 46.8   +07 18 17     2.825    2.674   71.1   21.1   248   13.5 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   01 03 55.1   +07 24 46     2.813    2.675   71.7   21.1   248   13.5 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   01 05 02.8   +07 31 10     2.801    2.675   72.4   21.2   248   13.5 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   01 06 09.9   +07 37 29     2.790    2.676   73.0   21.3   248   13.5 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   01 07 16.4   +07 43 44     2.778    2.677   73.7   21.4   248   13.4 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   01 08 22.3   +07 49 54     2.766    2.678   74.4   21.4   248   13.4 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   01 09 27.6   +07 55 59     2.755    2.679   75.0   21.5   248   13.4 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   01 10 32.3   +08 01 59     2.743    2.679   75.7   21.6   248   13.4 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   01 11 36.3   +08 07 54     2.731    2.680   76.4   21.6   248   13.4 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   01 12 39.6   +08 13 44     2.719    2.681   77.1   21.7   248   13.4 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   01 13 42.3   +08 19 29     2.707    2.682   77.7   21.7   248   13.4 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   01 14 44.3   +08 25 09     2.695    2.683   78.4   21.8   248   13.4 

    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.