(134340) Pluto
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Jan 2026	15.0	35.435 AU	36.414 AU	20h24m	-23°10'	5.1°	0.1°
Opposition	26 Jul 2026	14.9	35.564 AU	34.551 AU	20h29m	-23°25'	175.7°	0.1°

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)                : 0.2470716
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.3398536
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.17579
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.33624
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.17584
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 53.10668
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 44.47266
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.75198
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.75            
        

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
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   20 24 45.0   -23 10 50    36.414   35.435    5.1    0.1   125   15.0 
2026-01-20 02:56 UT   20 24 46.0   -23 10 47    36.415   35.435    5.0    0.1   126   15.0 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   20 24 53.2   -23 10 27    36.416   35.435    4.5    0.1   134   15.0 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   20 25 01.4   -23 10 05    36.417   35.436    4.0    0.1   146   15.0 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   20 25 09.6   -23 09 42    36.418   35.437    3.8    0.1   160   15.0 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   20 25 17.7   -23 09 20    36.419   35.437    3.8    0.1   175   15.0 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   20 25 25.9   -23 08 57    36.420   35.438    4.1    0.1   188   15.0 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   20 25 34.1   -23 08 35    36.420   35.439    4.6    0.1   200   15.0 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   20 25 42.3   -23 08 13    36.420   35.439    5.2    0.1   209   15.0 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   20 25 50.4   -23 07 51    36.419   35.440    5.9    0.2   216   15.1 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   20 25 58.6   -23 07 29    36.419   35.441    6.7    0.2   222   15.1 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   20 26 06.8   -23 07 07    36.418   35.441    7.5    0.2   226   15.1 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   20 26 14.9   -23 06 45    36.416   35.442    8.4    0.2   229   15.1 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   20 26 23.0   -23 06 24    36.415   35.443    9.2    0.3   232   15.1 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   20 26 31.1   -23 06 02    36.413   35.443   10.1    0.3   234   15.1 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   20 26 39.2   -23 05 41    36.411   35.444   11.1    0.3   236   15.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   20 26 47.3   -23 05 20    36.408   35.445   12.0    0.3   238   15.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   20 26 55.3   -23 04 59    36.406   35.446   12.9    0.4   239   15.1 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   20 27 03.4   -23 04 38    36.403   35.446   13.9    0.4   241   15.1 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   20 27 11.4   -23 04 18    36.399   35.447   14.8    0.4   242   15.1 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   20 27 19.3   -23 03 57    36.396   35.448   15.8    0.4   242   15.1 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   20 27 27.3   -23 03 37    36.392   35.448   16.7    0.5   243   15.1 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   20 27 35.2   -23 03 17    36.388   35.449   17.7    0.5   244   15.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   20 27 43.1   -23 02 57    36.383   35.450   18.6    0.5   245   15.1 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   20 27 50.9   -23 02 37    36.379   35.450   19.6    0.5   245   15.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   20 27 58.7   -23 02 18    36.374   35.451   20.6    0.6   246   15.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   20 28 06.5   -23 01 59    36.368   35.452   21.5    0.6   246   15.1 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   20 28 14.3   -23 01 40    36.363   35.452   22.5    0.6   247   15.1 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   20 28 21.9   -23 01 21    36.357   35.453   23.4    0.6   247   15.1 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   20 28 29.6   -23 01 02    36.351   35.454   24.4    0.7   248   15.1 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   20 28 37.2   -23 00 44    36.345   35.454   25.4    0.7   248   15.1 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   20 28 44.8   -23 00 26    36.338   35.455   26.4    0.7   248   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.