(134340) Pluto
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Opposition26 Jul 202614.935.564 AU34.551 AU20h29m-23°25'175.7°0.1°
Today22 Sep 202615.135.604 AU35.032 AU20h24m-23°42'124.1°1.3°
(134340) Pluto - 2026-09-22
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Pluto are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2476521
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.3386678
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.17591
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.33632
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.07070
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 53.93388
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 44.36430
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.76476
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.73            
        

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
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   20 24 43.6   -23 42 18    35.032   35.604  124.1    1.3    73   15.1 
2026-09-22 05:16 UT   20 24 43.0   -23 42 20    35.035   35.604  123.9    1.3    73   15.1 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   20 24 40.9   -23 42 26    35.047   35.605  123.1    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   20 24 38.3   -23 42 33    35.062   35.605  122.1    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   20 24 35.8   -23 42 40    35.077   35.606  121.1    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   20 24 33.4   -23 42 46    35.093   35.607  120.1    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   20 24 31.1   -23 42 52    35.108   35.607  119.1    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   20 24 28.9   -23 42 57    35.124   35.608  118.2    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   20 24 26.8   -23 43 02    35.140   35.609  117.2    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   20 24 24.9   -23 43 07    35.156   35.610  116.2    1.4    74   15.1 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   20 24 23.0   -23 43 11    35.172   35.610  115.2    1.5    74   15.1 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   20 24 21.3   -23 43 15    35.188   35.611  114.2    1.5    74   15.1 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   20 24 19.6   -23 43 18    35.205   35.612  113.2    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   20 24 18.1   -23 43 21    35.221   35.612  112.2    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   20 24 16.7   -23 43 24    35.238   35.613  111.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   20 24 15.4   -23 43 26    35.255   35.614  110.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   20 24 14.3   -23 43 28    35.272   35.614  109.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   20 24 13.2   -23 43 29    35.289   35.615  108.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   20 24 12.3   -23 43 30    35.306   35.616  107.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   20 24 11.4   -23 43 30    35.323   35.616  106.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   20 24 10.7   -23 43 30    35.340   35.617  105.3    1.5    75   15.1 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   20 24 10.2   -23 43 29    35.357   35.618  104.3    1.6    75   15.1 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   20 24 09.7   -23 43 29    35.375   35.619  103.4    1.6    75   15.1 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   20 24 09.3   -23 43 27    35.392   35.619  102.4    1.6    75   15.1 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   20 24 09.1   -23 43 25    35.410   35.620  101.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   20 24 09.0   -23 43 23    35.427   35.621  100.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   20 24 09.0   -23 43 21    35.445   35.621   99.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   20 24 09.2   -23 43 18    35.463   35.622   98.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   20 24 09.4   -23 43 14    35.480   35.623   97.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   20 24 09.8   -23 43 10    35.498   35.623   96.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   20 24 10.3   -23 43 06    35.516   35.624   95.4    1.6    76   15.1 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   20 24 10.9   -23 43 01    35.534   35.625   94.5    1.6    76   15.1 


    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.