(385) Ilmatar
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	8 Oct 2026	12.3	3.175 AU	2.187 AU	00h40m	+15°28'	169.8°	3.2°
Today	9 Oct 2026	12.3	3.175 AU	2.187 AU	00h40m	+15°26'	169.8°	3.2°

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 Ilmatar are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1271095
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8471650
            i (Inclination)                 : 13.58324
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 344.83385
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 189.11808
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 183.13498
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 353.70100
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.13292
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.80            
        

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
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   00 40 28.5   +15 26 43     2.187    3.175  169.8    3.2   157   12.3 
2026-10-09 14:38 UT   00 39 55.3   +15 25 07     2.187    3.175  169.8    3.2   153   12.3 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   00 39 34.0   +15 24 04     2.187    3.174  169.7    3.2   150   12.3 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   00 38 39.6   +15 21 20     2.187    3.174  169.4    3.3   143   12.3 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   00 37 45.5   +15 18 31     2.188    3.173  169.1    3.4   137   12.3 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   00 36 51.7   +15 15 38     2.189    3.173  168.6    3.6   131   12.3 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   00 35 58.3   +15 12 41     2.190    3.172  168.0    3.8   126   12.4 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   00 35 05.3   +15 09 40     2.191    3.172  167.3    4.0   122   12.4 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   00 34 12.7   +15 06 35     2.193    3.171  166.6    4.2   117   12.4 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   00 33 20.7   +15 03 27     2.195    3.171  165.8    4.4   114   12.4 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   00 32 29.2   +15 00 16     2.198    3.170  164.9    4.7   110   12.4 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   00 31 38.3   +14 57 02     2.200    3.170  164.0    5.0   107   12.4 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   00 30 48.1   +14 53 46     2.203    3.169  163.1    5.2   104   12.4 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   00 29 58.6   +14 50 28     2.206    3.169  162.1    5.5   102   12.5 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   00 29 09.8   +14 47 09     2.210    3.168  161.1    5.8   100   12.5 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   00 28 21.8   +14 43 48     2.214    3.168  160.1    6.1    98   12.5 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   00 27 34.7   +14 40 25     2.218    3.167  159.1    6.4    96   12.5 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   00 26 48.4   +14 37 02     2.222    3.167  158.1    6.7    94   12.5 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   00 26 03.0   +14 33 39     2.227    3.166  157.0    7.0    93   12.6 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   00 25 18.5   +14 30 15     2.232    3.166  156.0    7.4    92   12.6 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   00 24 35.0   +14 26 52     2.237    3.165  154.9    7.7    90   12.6 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   00 23 52.5   +14 23 28     2.242    3.164  153.8    8.0    89   12.6 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   00 23 11.0   +14 20 06     2.248    3.164  152.7    8.3    88   12.6 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   00 22 30.6   +14 16 44     2.254    3.163  151.7    8.6    87   12.6 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   00 21 51.3   +14 13 24     2.260    3.163  150.6    8.9    86   12.7 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   00 21 13.1   +14 10 05     2.267    3.162  149.5    9.2    85   12.7 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   00 20 36.0   +14 06 48     2.273    3.162  148.4    9.5    84   12.7 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   00 20 00.2   +14 03 33     2.280    3.161  147.3    9.8    84   12.7 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   00 19 25.5   +14 00 20     2.288    3.160  146.2   10.0    83   12.7 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   00 18 52.0   +13 57 11     2.295    3.160  145.2   10.3    82   12.8 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   00 18 19.9   +13 54 04     2.303    3.159  144.1   10.6    82   12.8 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   00 17 48.9   +13 50 60     2.310    3.159  143.0   10.9    81   12.8 

    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.