(287) Nephthys
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	3 Mar 2025	11.1	2.363 AU	1.375 AU	11h06m	+12°23'	173.9°	2.6°
Today	14 Mar 2025	11.3	2.360 AU	1.385 AU	10h57m	+14°06'	165.2°	6.2°

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 Nephthys are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0236221
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3526090
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.03389
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 142.23259
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 122.87021
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 277.77539
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 85.50663
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 8.41469
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.61            
        

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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-03-14 00:00 UT   10 57 23.6   +14 06 38     1.385    2.360  165.2    6.2   140   11.3 
2025-03-14 03:46 UT   10 57 15.7   +14 08 04     1.386    2.360  165.0    6.3   139   11.3 
2025-03-15 00:00 UT   10 56 33.5   +14 15 39     1.388    2.360  164.1    6.6   138   11.4 
2025-03-16 00:00 UT   10 55 44.0   +14 24 28     1.391    2.360  162.9    7.1   136   11.4 
2025-03-17 00:00 UT   10 54 55.3   +14 33 06     1.394    2.359  161.8    7.6   135   11.4 
2025-03-18 00:00 UT   10 54 07.3   +14 41 32     1.397    2.359  160.6    8.1   133   11.4 
2025-03-19 00:00 UT   10 53 20.2   +14 49 46     1.401    2.359  159.4    8.5   132   11.5 
2025-03-20 00:00 UT   10 52 34.0   +14 57 47     1.404    2.359  158.3    9.0   131   11.5 
2025-03-21 00:00 UT   10 51 48.7   +15 05 36     1.409    2.358  157.1    9.5   130   11.5 
2025-03-22 00:00 UT   10 51 04.5   +15 13 11     1.413    2.358  156.0    9.9   129   11.5 
2025-03-23 00:00 UT   10 50 21.4   +15 20 32     1.417    2.358  154.8   10.4   128   11.6 
2025-03-24 00:00 UT   10 49 39.4   +15 27 40     1.422    2.357  153.7   10.8   128   11.6 
2025-03-25 00:00 UT   10 48 58.6   +15 34 33     1.427    2.357  152.5   11.3   127   11.6 
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   10 48 19.0   +15 41 12     1.433    2.357  151.4   11.7   126   11.6 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   10 47 40.8   +15 47 36     1.438    2.357  150.2   12.1   126   11.7 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   10 47 03.9   +15 53 46     1.444    2.356  149.1   12.6   125   11.7 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   10 46 28.4   +15 59 40     1.450    2.356  148.0   13.0   125   11.7 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   10 45 54.4   +16 05 20     1.456    2.356  146.8   13.4   124   11.7 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   10 45 21.8   +16 10 44     1.462    2.356  145.7   13.8   124   11.8 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   10 44 50.7   +16 15 53     1.469    2.355  144.6   14.2   123   11.8 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   10 44 21.3   +16 20 47     1.475    2.355  143.5   14.6   123   11.8 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   10 43 53.4   +16 25 25     1.482    2.355  142.4   15.0   122   11.8 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   10 43 27.1   +16 29 48     1.490    2.355  141.3   15.4   122   11.9 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   10 43 02.4   +16 33 56     1.497    2.354  140.2   15.8   122   11.9 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   10 42 39.4   +16 37 48     1.504    2.354  139.2   16.1   121   11.9 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   10 42 18.1   +16 41 25     1.512    2.354  138.1   16.5   121   11.9 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   10 41 58.4   +16 44 47     1.520    2.354  137.0   16.9   121   12.0 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   10 41 40.5   +16 47 54     1.528    2.353  136.0   17.2   120   12.0 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   10 41 24.3   +16 50 46     1.536    2.353  134.9   17.5   120   12.0 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   10 41 09.7   +16 53 23     1.544    2.353  133.9   17.9   120   12.0 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   10 40 56.9   +16 55 45     1.553    2.352  132.9   18.2   120   12.0 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   10 40 45.8   +16 57 53     1.562    2.352  131.9   18.5   119   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.