(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 May 2025	11.0	2.305 AU	1.536 AU	18h01m	-56°08'	128.7°	20.0°
Opposition	13 Jun 2025	10.6	2.341 AU	1.419 AU	17h21m	-55°32'	147.7°	13.4°

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 Niobe are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1769568
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7546232
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24271
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90888
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.05075
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 18.04959
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.69965
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21012
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.57            
        

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
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   18 01 49.0   -56 08 45     1.536    2.305  128.7   20.0   301   11.0 
2025-05-09 21:59 UT   18 01 24.3   -56 12 48     1.530    2.306  129.3   19.8   302   11.0 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   18 01 21.9   -56 13 10     1.529    2.306  129.4   19.8   302   11.0 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   18 00 51.7   -56 17 23     1.523    2.307  130.1   19.6   303   11.0 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   18 00 18.4   -56 21 21     1.518    2.308  130.8   19.3   304   10.9 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   17 59 42.0   -56 25 06     1.512    2.309  131.5   19.1   305   10.9 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   17 59 02.5   -56 28 37     1.506    2.310  132.2   18.9   306   10.9 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   17 58 20.0   -56 31 52     1.501    2.311  132.9   18.7   307   10.9 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   17 57 34.5   -56 34 51     1.495    2.312  133.6   18.5   309   10.9 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   17 56 46.0   -56 37 34     1.490    2.313  134.3   18.2   310   10.9 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   17 55 54.7   -56 39 60     1.485    2.313  135.0   18.0   311   10.9 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   17 55 00.5   -56 42 08     1.480    2.314  135.6   17.8   313   10.8 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   17 54 03.5   -56 43 58     1.476    2.315  136.3   17.6   314   10.8 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   17 53 03.8   -56 45 30     1.471    2.316  136.9   17.4   316   10.8 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   17 52 01.5   -56 46 42     1.467    2.317  137.6   17.1   317   10.8 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   17 50 56.7   -56 47 33     1.463    2.318  138.2   16.9   319   10.8 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   17 49 49.4   -56 48 05     1.459    2.319  138.9   16.7   320   10.8 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   17 48 39.7   -56 48 15     1.455    2.320  139.5   16.5   322   10.8 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   17 47 27.9   -56 48 03     1.451    2.321  140.1   16.3   323   10.8 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   17 46 13.9   -56 47 29     1.448    2.322  140.7   16.1   325   10.7 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   17 44 58.0   -56 46 32     1.445    2.323  141.3   15.8   327   10.7 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   17 43 40.3   -56 45 13     1.441    2.324  141.8   15.6   329   10.7 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   17 42 20.8   -56 43 29     1.439    2.325  142.4   15.4   331   10.7 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   17 40 59.8   -56 41 22     1.436    2.326  142.9   15.2   333   10.7 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   17 39 37.5   -56 38 50     1.433    2.327  143.4   15.1   334   10.7 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   17 38 13.8   -56 35 54     1.431    2.328  143.9   14.9   336   10.7 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   17 36 49.1   -56 32 34     1.429    2.329  144.4   14.7   339   10.7 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   17 35 23.5   -56 28 48     1.427    2.330  144.8   14.5   341   10.7 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   17 33 57.1   -56 24 37     1.425    2.331  145.2   14.4   343   10.7 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   17 32 30.0   -56 20 01     1.424    2.333  145.6   14.2   345   10.7 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   17 31 02.5   -56 15 00     1.422    2.334  146.0   14.1   347   10.6 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   17 29 34.7   -56 09 34     1.421    2.335  146.3   13.9   349   10.6 

    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.