(71) Niobe
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	1 May 2026	13.1	2.886 AU	3.448 AU	23h18m	+03°22'	48.8°	15.2°
Opposition	25 Sep 2026	11.9	3.099 AU	2.161 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)                : 0.1770227
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7546487
            i (Inclination)                 : 23.24410
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 315.90604
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 267.03466
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 61.17488
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 42.67928
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -23.21115
            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
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   23 18 41.5   +03 22 28     3.448    2.886   48.8   15.2   253   13.1 
2026-05-01 20:14 UT   23 19 36.5   +03 32 53     3.441    2.888   49.4   15.4   253   13.1 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   23 19 46.7   +03 34 49     3.439    2.888   49.5   15.4   253   13.1 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   23 20 51.5   +03 47 10     3.430    2.890   50.1   15.5   253   13.1 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   23 21 55.8   +03 59 30     3.422    2.891   50.8   15.7   253   13.1 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   23 22 59.7   +04 11 50     3.413    2.893   51.4   15.8   253   13.1 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   23 24 03.1   +04 24 10     3.404    2.895   52.0   15.9   253   13.1 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   23 25 06.0   +04 36 29     3.395    2.896   52.7   16.1   253   13.1 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   23 26 08.5   +04 48 48     3.385    2.898   53.3   16.2   252   13.1 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   23 27 10.4   +05 01 07     3.376    2.900   54.0   16.4   252   13.1 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   23 28 11.9   +05 13 26     3.367    2.901   54.6   16.5   252   13.1 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   23 29 12.9   +05 25 43     3.357    2.903   55.3   16.6   252   13.1 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   23 30 13.4   +05 38 01     3.348    2.905   55.9   16.7   252   13.1 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   23 31 13.3   +05 50 18     3.338    2.906   56.6   16.9   252   13.1 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   23 32 12.7   +06 02 34     3.328    2.908   57.2   17.0   252   13.1 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   23 33 11.6   +06 14 50     3.318    2.910   57.9   17.1   252   13.1 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   23 34 10.0   +06 27 06     3.308    2.911   58.5   17.2   252   13.1 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   23 35 07.8   +06 39 20     3.298    2.913   59.2   17.3   252   13.1 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   23 36 05.1   +06 51 34     3.288    2.914   59.9   17.5   251   13.1 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   23 37 01.8   +07 03 48     3.278    2.916   60.5   17.6   251   13.1 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   23 37 57.9   +07 16 00     3.268    2.918   61.2   17.7   251   13.1 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   23 38 53.4   +07 28 12     3.257    2.919   61.8   17.8   251   13.0 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   23 39 48.4   +07 40 23     3.247    2.921   62.5   17.9   251   13.0 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   23 40 42.8   +07 52 33     3.236    2.923   63.2   18.0   251   13.0 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   23 41 36.5   +08 04 43     3.226    2.924   63.8   18.1   251   13.0 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   23 42 29.7   +08 16 51     3.215    2.926   64.5   18.2   251   13.0 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   23 43 22.3   +08 28 59     3.204    2.927   65.2   18.3   251   13.0 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   23 44 14.2   +08 41 05     3.193    2.929   65.9   18.4   251   13.0 

    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.