(28) Bellona
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 Mar 2026	12.5	2.830 AU	2.551 AU	16h55m	-12°05'	95.9°	20.4°
Opposition	30 May 2026	11.4	2.944 AU	1.950 AU	16h39m	-08°12'	166.2°	4.7°

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 Bellona are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1489865
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7772838
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.42325
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.15088
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 343.46246
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 65.45935
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 127.82454
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.67116
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.63            
        

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
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   16 55 59.1   -12 05 36     2.551    2.830   95.9   20.4   275   12.5 
2026-03-11 05:53 UT   16 56 09.2   -12 05 03     2.548    2.831   96.1   20.4   275   12.5 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   16 56 40.1   -12 03 19     2.539    2.832   96.7   20.4   275   12.5 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   16 57 19.9   -12 00 58     2.526    2.833   97.5   20.4   275   12.5 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   16 57 58.5   -11 58 34     2.514    2.835   98.3   20.3   275   12.5 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   16 58 35.9   -11 56 06     2.502    2.836   99.2   20.3   274   12.5 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   16 59 12.1   -11 53 34     2.491    2.838  100.0   20.2   274   12.5 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   16 59 46.9   -11 50 59     2.479    2.839  100.8   20.1   274   12.5 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   17 00 20.5   -11 48 21     2.467    2.841  101.7   20.1   274   12.4 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   17 00 52.8   -11 45 39     2.455    2.842  102.5   20.0   273   12.4 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   17 01 23.8   -11 42 54     2.443    2.844  103.4   19.9   273   12.4 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   17 01 53.5   -11 40 06     2.431    2.845  104.2   19.8   273   12.4 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   17 02 21.8   -11 37 15     2.420    2.847  105.1   19.7   273   12.4 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   17 02 48.8   -11 34 20     2.408    2.848  106.0   19.7   273   12.4 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   17 03 14.4   -11 31 24     2.396    2.850  106.8   19.6   272   12.4 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   17 03 38.7   -11 28 24     2.385    2.851  107.7   19.5   272   12.4 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   17 04 01.5   -11 25 22     2.373    2.852  108.6   19.4   272   12.3 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   17 04 23.0   -11 22 17     2.362    2.854  109.5   19.2   272   12.3 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   17 04 43.1   -11 19 09     2.351    2.855  110.4   19.1   271   12.3 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   17 05 01.8   -11 15 60     2.339    2.857  111.2   19.0   271   12.3 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   17 05 19.1   -11 12 48     2.328    2.858  112.1   18.9   271   12.3 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   17 05 35.0   -11 09 34     2.317    2.860  113.0   18.7   270   12.3 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   17 05 49.4   -11 06 18     2.306    2.861  113.9   18.6   270   12.3 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   17 06 02.4   -11 02 59     2.295    2.863  114.9   18.5   270   12.2 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   17 06 14.0   -10 59 39     2.284    2.864  115.8   18.3   270   12.2 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   17 06 24.0   -10 56 18     2.274    2.866  116.7   18.2   269   12.2 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   17 06 32.7   -10 52 54     2.263    2.867  117.6   18.0   269   12.2 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   17 06 39.8   -10 49 29     2.253    2.869  118.5   17.8   269   12.2 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   17 06 45.4   -10 46 03     2.242    2.870  119.5   17.7   268   12.2 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   17 06 49.6   -10 42 35     2.232    2.871  120.4   17.5   268   12.2 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   17 06 52.3   -10 39 06     2.222    2.873  121.3   17.3   268   12.1 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   17 06 53.4   -10 35 35     2.212    2.874  122.3   17.1   267   12.1 

    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.