(43) Ariadne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	8 Dec 2025	11.0	2.529 AU	1.544 AU	05h02m	+23°35'	179.0°	0.4°
Today	21 Dec 2025	11.4	2.538 AU	1.577 AU	04h47m	+22°55'	164.5°	6.0°

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 Ariadne are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1681473
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2034781
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.47056
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 264.74735
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 16.18526
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 141.45122
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 280.90448
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.96685
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.27            
        

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
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   04 47 59.2   +22 55 58     1.577    2.538  164.5    6.0    85   11.4 
2025-12-21 20:37 UT   04 47 04.5   +22 53 12     1.581    2.539  163.4    6.4    85   11.4 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   04 46 55.6   +22 52 45     1.581    2.539  163.2    6.4    85   11.5 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   04 45 53.2   +22 49 32     1.586    2.540  161.9    6.9    84   11.5 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   04 44 52.1   +22 46 21     1.591    2.540  160.7    7.4    84   11.5 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   04 43 52.3   +22 43 10     1.597    2.541  159.4    7.8    84   11.5 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   04 42 53.9   +22 40 01     1.602    2.542  158.2    8.3    83   11.6 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   04 41 57.0   +22 36 54     1.608    2.542  156.9    8.7    83   11.6 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   04 41 01.7   +22 33 49     1.614    2.543  155.7    9.2    83   11.6 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   04 40 07.9   +22 30 45     1.621    2.544  154.5    9.6    83   11.6 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   04 39 15.7   +22 27 44     1.628    2.544  153.2   10.0    83   11.7 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   04 38 25.1   +22 24 46     1.635    2.545  152.0   10.4    83   11.7 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   04 37 36.3   +22 21 50     1.642    2.546  150.8   10.9    82   11.7 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   04 36 49.2   +22 18 58     1.649    2.546  149.6   11.3    82   11.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   04 36 03.8   +22 16 08     1.657    2.547  148.4   11.7    82   11.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   04 35 20.2   +22 13 22     1.665    2.548  147.2   12.1    82   11.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   04 34 38.5   +22 10 40     1.673    2.548  146.0   12.5    82   11.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   04 33 58.5   +22 08 01     1.681    2.549  144.8   12.8    82   11.9 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   04 33 20.4   +22 05 26     1.690    2.550  143.7   13.2    82   11.9 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   04 32 44.2   +22 02 55     1.699    2.550  142.5   13.6    82   11.9 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   04 32 09.9   +22 00 28     1.708    2.551  141.4   13.9    82   11.9 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   04 31 37.5   +21 58 05     1.717    2.551  140.2   14.3    82   12.0 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   04 31 07.0   +21 55 47     1.726    2.552  139.1   14.6    81   12.0 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   04 30 38.5   +21 53 33     1.736    2.552  137.9   15.0    81   12.0 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   04 30 11.9   +21 51 24     1.746    2.553  136.8   15.3    81   12.0 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   04 29 47.2   +21 49 20     1.756    2.554  135.7   15.6    81   12.1 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   04 29 24.5   +21 47 21     1.766    2.554  134.6   15.9    81   12.1 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   04 29 03.8   +21 45 26     1.776    2.555  133.5   16.2    81   12.1 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   04 28 45.0   +21 43 36     1.787    2.555  132.4   16.5    81   12.1 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   04 28 28.2   +21 41 52     1.797    2.556  131.3   16.8    81   12.1 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   04 28 13.4   +21 40 12     1.808    2.556  130.2   17.1    81   12.2 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   04 28 00.5   +21 38 37     1.819    2.557  129.1   17.4    81   12.2 

    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.