(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Jul 2026	11.9	3.054 AU	2.253 AU	22h56m	-07°46'	134.6°	13.7°
Opposition	28 Aug 2026	11.0	3.038 AU	2.028 AU	22h31m	-11°18'	178.0°	0.7°

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 Astraea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1875740
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5768077
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.35968
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 141.44723
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 359.37562
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 181.47820
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 140.82558
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.05832
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.14            
        

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
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   22 56 15.7   -07 46 33     2.253    3.054  134.6   13.7   248   11.9 
2026-07-20 08:07 UT   22 56 10.1   -07 47 40     2.250    3.053  135.0   13.6   248   11.9 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   22 55 58.7   -07 49 55     2.243    3.053  135.7   13.5   248   11.9 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   22 55 40.4   -07 53 25     2.233    3.053  136.7   13.2   249   11.9 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   22 55 20.9   -07 57 04     2.223    3.053  137.8   12.9   249   11.9 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   22 55 00.1   -08 00 51     2.214    3.052  138.8   12.7   249   11.8 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   22 54 38.1   -08 04 45     2.204    3.052  139.9   12.4   249   11.8 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   22 54 14.8   -08 08 48     2.195    3.052  140.9   12.1   249   11.8 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   22 53 50.3   -08 12 58     2.186    3.051  142.0   11.8   249   11.8 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   22 53 24.6   -08 17 16     2.178    3.051  143.1   11.5   249   11.8 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   22 52 57.7   -08 21 42     2.169    3.051  144.2   11.2   249   11.7 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   22 52 29.6   -08 26 15     2.161    3.050  145.3   10.9   249   11.7 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   22 52 00.4   -08 30 55     2.153    3.050  146.4   10.6   249   11.7 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   22 51 29.9   -08 35 42     2.145    3.050  147.5   10.3   250   11.7 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   22 50 58.4   -08 40 37     2.137    3.049  148.6   10.0   250   11.7 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   22 50 25.7   -08 45 37     2.130    3.049  149.7    9.7   250   11.6 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   22 49 51.9   -08 50 45     2.123    3.049  150.8    9.3   250   11.6 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   22 49 17.0   -08 55 59     2.116    3.048  151.9    9.0   250   11.6 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   22 48 41.1   -09 01 19     2.109    3.048  153.0    8.7   250   11.6 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   22 48 04.1   -09 06 45     2.102    3.048  154.2    8.3   251   11.6 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   22 47 26.2   -09 12 17     2.096    3.047  155.3    8.0   251   11.5 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 46 47.2   -09 17 55     2.090    3.047  156.4    7.6   251   11.5 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   22 46 07.3   -09 23 37     2.085    3.046  157.6    7.3   251   11.5 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   22 45 26.5   -09 29 25     2.079    3.046  158.7    6.9   252   11.5 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   22 44 44.7   -09 35 17     2.074    3.046  159.9    6.6   252   11.4 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   22 44 02.2   -09 41 14     2.069    3.045  161.0    6.2   252   11.4 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   22 43 18.8   -09 47 15     2.064    3.045  162.2    5.8   253   11.4 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   22 42 34.7   -09 53 19     2.060    3.044  163.4    5.5   253   11.4 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   22 41 49.9   -09 59 27     2.056    3.044  164.5    5.1   254   11.3 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   22 41 04.3   -10 05 38     2.052    3.043  165.7    4.7   254   11.3 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   22 40 18.1   -10 11 52     2.048    3.043  166.8    4.3   255   11.3 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   22 39 31.4   -10 18 08     2.045    3.043  168.0    4.0   256   11.3 

    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.