(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	29 Aug 2026	12.1	3.065 AU	2.215 AU	23h52m	+23°40'	140.9°	12.0°
Opposition	25 Sep 2026	11.9	3.099 AU	2.162 AU	23h25m	+23°50'	154.8°	7.9°

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)                : 0.1771298
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7544079
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24487
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90615
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.00318
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 104.31325
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.64513
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21122
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   23 52 45.8   +23 40 01     2.215    3.065  140.9   12.0   214   12.1 
2026-08-29 19:51 UT   23 52 02.7   +23 42 55     2.210    3.066  141.6   11.8   213   12.1 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   23 51 53.6   +23 43 30     2.209    3.067  141.7   11.8   213   12.1 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   23 51 00.4   +23 46 46     2.204    3.068  142.6   11.5   212   12.1 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   23 50 06.4   +23 49 48     2.200    3.069  143.4   11.3   210   12.1 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   23 49 11.5   +23 52 36     2.195    3.070  144.2   11.1   209   12.1 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   23 48 15.9   +23 55 10     2.191    3.072  144.9   10.9   207   12.0 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   23 47 19.4   +23 57 29     2.187    3.073  145.7   10.7   206   12.0 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   23 46 22.3   +23 59 35     2.183    3.074  146.5   10.4   204   12.0 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   23 45 24.4   +24 01 25     2.179    3.075  147.2   10.2   202   12.0 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   23 44 26.0   +24 03 02     2.176    3.077  147.9   10.0   201   12.0 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   23 43 27.0   +24 04 24     2.173    3.078  148.6    9.8   199   12.0 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   23 42 27.4   +24 05 31     2.170    3.079  149.2    9.6   197   12.0 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   23 41 27.5   +24 06 24     2.167    3.080  149.9    9.4   195   12.0 
2026-09-11 00:00 UT   23 40 27.1   +24 07 02     2.165    3.082  150.5    9.3   193   12.0 
2026-09-12 00:00 UT   23 39 26.3   +24 07 26     2.163    3.083  151.1    9.1   190   11.9 
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   23 38 25.3   +24 07 36     2.161    3.084  151.6    8.9   188   11.9 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   23 37 24.1   +24 07 32     2.160    3.085  152.1    8.8   186   11.9 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   23 36 22.6   +24 07 13     2.159    3.086  152.6    8.6   183   11.9 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   23 35 21.1   +24 06 40     2.158    3.088  153.0    8.5   181   11.9 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   23 34 19.6   +24 05 54     2.157    3.089  153.4    8.4   178   11.9 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   23 33 18.0   +24 04 54     2.156    3.090  153.8    8.3   176   11.9 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   23 32 16.5   +24 03 41     2.156    3.091  154.1    8.2   173   11.9 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   23 31 15.2   +24 02 14     2.156    3.092  154.3    8.1   170   11.9 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   23 30 14.0   +24 00 34     2.157    3.094  154.5    8.0   168   11.9 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   23 29 13.1   +23 58 42     2.157    3.095  154.7    8.0   165   11.9 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   23 28 12.5   +23 56 37     2.158    3.096  154.8    7.9   162   11.9 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   23 27 12.3   +23 54 20     2.159    3.097  154.9    7.9   159   11.9 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   23 26 12.4   +23 51 50     2.161    3.098  154.9    7.9   156   11.9 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   23 25 13.1   +23 49 10     2.162    3.099  154.8    7.9   153   11.9 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   23 24 14.2   +23 46 17     2.164    3.100  154.7    7.9   150   11.9 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   23 23 15.9   +23 43 14     2.167    3.102  154.6    8.0   148   11.9 

    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.