(124) Alkeste
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 May 2025	11.6	2.425 AU	1.499 AU	17h56m	-18°57'	149.4°	12.2°
Opposition	14 Jun 2025	11.0	2.429 AU	1.416 AU	17h36m	-18°23'	175.0°	2.1°

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)                : 0.0783889
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6299281
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.96344
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 187.90891
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 61.65611
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 2.89910
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 249.53297
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 2.60790
            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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   17 56 27.2   -18 57 21     1.499    2.425  149.4   12.2   263   11.6 
2025-05-20 20:30 UT   17 55 58.6   -18 55 57     1.494    2.425  150.4   11.9   262   11.6 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   17 55 53.6   -18 55 42     1.493    2.425  150.5   11.9   262   11.6 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   17 55 18.4   -18 54 04     1.487    2.425  151.6   11.5   262   11.6 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   17 54 41.7   -18 52 28     1.481    2.426  152.7   11.0   262   11.5 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   17 54 03.5   -18 50 52     1.476    2.426  153.8   10.6   261   11.5 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   17 53 23.9   -18 49 19     1.470    2.426  154.9   10.2   261   11.5 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   17 52 42.9   -18 47 46     1.465    2.426  156.0    9.8   260   11.5 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   17 52 00.5   -18 46 15     1.461    2.426  157.1    9.4   260   11.4 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   17 51 16.9   -18 44 45     1.456    2.426  158.2    8.9   259   11.4 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   17 50 32.0   -18 43 17     1.452    2.426  159.3    8.5   258   11.4 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   17 49 46.0   -18 41 50     1.448    2.427  160.4    8.1   258   11.4 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   17 48 58.8   -18 40 25     1.444    2.427  161.5    7.6   257   11.3 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   17 48 10.6   -18 39 02     1.440    2.427  162.6    7.2   256   11.3 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   17 47 21.4   -18 37 40     1.437    2.427  163.7    6.7   255   11.3 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   17 46 31.3   -18 36 20     1.434    2.427  164.8    6.3   253   11.3 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   17 45 40.3   -18 35 02     1.431    2.427  165.9    5.9   252   11.2 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   17 44 48.5   -18 33 45     1.428    2.427  167.0    5.4   250   11.2 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   17 43 56.0   -18 32 31     1.426    2.428  168.0    5.0   248   11.2 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   17 43 02.9   -18 31 18     1.424    2.428  169.1    4.5   246   11.2 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   17 42 09.1   -18 30 07     1.422    2.428  170.1    4.1   243   11.1 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   17 41 14.8   -18 28 57     1.420    2.428  171.1    3.7   239   11.1 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   17 40 20.1   -18 27 50     1.419    2.428  172.0    3.3   234   11.1 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   17 39 24.9   -18 26 45     1.418    2.429  172.9    3.0   228   11.1 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   17 38 29.5   -18 25 42     1.417    2.429  173.7    2.6   221   11.0 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   17 37 33.8   -18 24 41     1.416    2.429  174.4    2.4   212   11.0 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   17 36 37.9   -18 23 42     1.416    2.429  174.8    2.2   200   11.0 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   17 35 42.0   -18 22 45     1.416    2.429  175.0    2.1   187   11.0 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   17 34 46.0   -18 21 50     1.416    2.430  175.0    2.1   174   11.0 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   17 33 50.1   -18 20 58     1.416    2.430  174.7    2.2   161   11.0 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   17 32 54.2   -18 20 08     1.417    2.430  174.1    2.4   150   11.0 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   17 31 58.6   -18 19 21     1.418    2.430  173.4    2.7   142   11.0 

    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.