(35) Leukothea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	28 Feb 2026	11.8	2.506 AU	1.516 AU	10h49m	+10°47'	177.0°	1.2°
Today	17 Apr 2026	12.7	2.435 AU	1.702 AU	10h20m	+10°28'	126.4°	19.4°

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 Leukothea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2172633
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0056987
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.86607
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 352.90956
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 215.43996
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 309.11721
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 28.09403
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -4.55161
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.21            
        

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
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   10 20 10.0   +10 28 03     1.702    2.435  126.4   19.4   111   12.7 
2026-04-17 01:19 UT   10 20 09.9   +10 27 52     1.702    2.435  126.4   19.4   111   12.7 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   10 20 08.5   +10 24 38     1.710    2.434  125.5   19.6   111   12.8 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   10 20 08.8   +10 21 05     1.719    2.433  124.5   19.9   111   12.8 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   10 20 10.7   +10 17 24     1.728    2.431  123.6   20.1   111   12.8 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   10 20 14.4   +10 13 36     1.736    2.430  122.6   20.4   111   12.8 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   10 20 19.7   +10 09 40     1.745    2.429  121.7   20.6   111   12.8 
2026-04-23 00:00 UT   10 20 26.7   +10 05 37     1.755    2.428  120.8   20.8   111   12.9 
2026-04-24 00:00 UT   10 20 35.4   +10 01 27     1.764    2.426  119.9   21.1   111   12.9 
2026-04-25 00:00 UT   10 20 45.7   +09 57 09     1.773    2.425  118.9   21.3   111   12.9 
2026-04-26 00:00 UT   10 20 57.7   +09 52 45     1.783    2.424  118.0   21.5   111   12.9 
2026-04-27 00:00 UT   10 21 11.2   +09 48 13     1.792    2.423  117.1   21.7   111   12.9 
2026-04-28 00:00 UT   10 21 26.4   +09 43 34     1.802    2.422  116.3   21.9   111   12.9 
2026-04-29 00:00 UT   10 21 43.1   +09 38 48     1.811    2.420  115.4   22.1   111   13.0 
2026-04-30 00:00 UT   10 22 01.4   +09 33 55     1.821    2.419  114.5   22.3   111   13.0 
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   10 22 21.2   +09 28 56     1.831    2.418  113.6   22.4   111   13.0 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   10 22 42.6   +09 23 49     1.841    2.417  112.8   22.6   111   13.0 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   10 23 05.4   +09 18 36     1.851    2.416  111.9   22.8   111   13.0 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   10 23 29.8   +09 13 17     1.861    2.415  111.1   22.9   111   13.0 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   10 23 55.6   +09 07 51     1.871    2.413  110.3   23.1   111   13.0 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   10 24 22.8   +09 02 18     1.881    2.412  109.4   23.2   111   13.1 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   10 24 51.5   +08 56 39     1.892    2.411  108.6   23.4   111   13.1 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   10 25 21.6   +08 50 54     1.902    2.410  107.8   23.5   111   13.1 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   10 25 53.0   +08 45 03     1.913    2.409  107.0   23.6   111   13.1 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   10 26 25.9   +08 39 05     1.923    2.408  106.2   23.7   111   13.1 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   10 27 00.1   +08 33 01     1.934    2.407  105.4   23.9   111   13.1 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   10 27 35.6   +08 26 51     1.944    2.406  104.6   24.0   111   13.2 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   10 28 12.5   +08 20 35     1.955    2.405  103.8   24.1   111   13.2 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   10 28 50.7   +08 14 12     1.965    2.404  103.0   24.2   111   13.2 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   10 29 30.1   +08 07 44     1.976    2.403  102.2   24.3   111   13.2 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   10 30 10.8   +08 01 09     1.987    2.402  101.5   24.4   111   13.2 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   10 30 52.8   +07 54 29     1.998    2.401  100.7   24.4   111   13.2 

    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.