(21) Lutetia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	29 May 2026	10.0	2.317 AU	1.304 AU	16h29m	-20°38'	178.3°	0.7°
Today	26 Jul 2026	11.3	2.216 AU	1.536 AU	15h58m	-20°52'	119.1°	23.6°

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 Lutetia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1647703
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4344307
            i (Inclination)                 : 3.06446
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 80.83859
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 249.88024
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 298.77265
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 150.69233
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.87729
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.80            
        

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
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   15 58 38.1   -20 52 42     1.536    2.216  119.1   23.6   101   11.3 
2026-07-26 08:27 UT   15 58 44.7   -20 53 29     1.539    2.215  118.8   23.7   101   11.3 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   15 58 57.7   -20 54 57     1.544    2.214  118.3   23.8   101   11.3 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   15 59 19.2   -20 57 16     1.553    2.212  117.4   24.0   101   11.3 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   15 59 42.6   -20 59 39     1.562    2.211  116.6   24.3   101   11.3 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   16 00 07.8   -21 02 06     1.570    2.209  115.7   24.5   101   11.3 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   16 00 35.0   -21 04 37     1.579    2.207  114.9   24.7   101   11.3 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   16 01 03.9   -21 07 13     1.588    2.206  114.0   24.9   101   11.4 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   16 01 34.7   -21 09 52     1.597    2.204  113.2   25.0   101   11.4 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   16 02 07.3   -21 12 34     1.606    2.202  112.4   25.2   101   11.4 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   16 02 41.7   -21 15 21     1.616    2.201  111.5   25.4   101   11.4 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   16 03 17.8   -21 18 10     1.625    2.199  110.7   25.6   101   11.4 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   16 03 55.7   -21 21 04     1.634    2.197  109.9   25.7   101   11.4 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   16 04 35.4   -21 23 60     1.643    2.196  109.1   25.9   101   11.4 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   16 05 16.7   -21 26 60     1.653    2.194  108.3   26.0   101   11.5 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   16 05 59.8   -21 30 02     1.662    2.193  107.6   26.2   101   11.5 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   16 06 44.6   -21 33 08     1.672    2.191  106.8   26.3   101   11.5 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   16 07 31.1   -21 36 16     1.681    2.189  106.0   26.4   101   11.5 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   16 08 19.2   -21 39 27     1.691    2.188  105.2   26.5   101   11.5 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   16 09 09.0   -21 42 41     1.700    2.186  104.5   26.7   100   11.5 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   16 10 00.4   -21 45 57     1.710    2.185  103.7   26.8   100   11.5 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   16 10 53.4   -21 49 16     1.720    2.183  103.0   26.9   100   11.6 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   16 11 48.0   -21 52 36     1.730    2.182  102.2   27.0   100   11.6 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   16 12 44.2   -21 55 59     1.739    2.180  101.5   27.1   100   11.6 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   16 13 41.9   -21 59 23     1.749    2.178  100.8   27.2   100   11.6 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   16 14 41.2   -22 02 49     1.759    2.177  100.0   27.2   100   11.6 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   16 15 41.9   -22 06 16     1.769    2.175   99.3   27.3   100   11.6 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   16 16 44.2   -22 09 45     1.779    2.174   98.6   27.4   100   11.6 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   16 17 47.9   -22 13 16     1.788    2.172   97.9   27.5   100   11.7 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   16 18 53.1   -22 16 47     1.798    2.171   97.2   27.5   100   11.7 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   16 19 59.7   -22 20 19     1.808    2.169   96.5   27.6   100   11.7 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   16 21 07.7   -22 23 52     1.818    2.168   95.8   27.6    99   11.7 

    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.