(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Mar 2025	11.7	2.555 AU	2.128 AU	17h24m	-16°47'	103.7°	22.3°
Opposition	5 Jun 2025	10.6	2.695 AU	1.686 AU	17h00m	-14°51'	172.1°	3.0°

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)                : 0.1874407
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5767618
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.35887
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 141.45353
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 359.31775
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 86.24723
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 140.77426
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.06372
            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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   17 24 33.7   -16 47 48     2.128    2.555  103.7   22.3   272   11.7 
2025-03-26 10:30 UT   17 24 49.2   -16 47 08     2.124    2.556  104.0   22.2   272   11.7 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   17 25 08.7   -16 46 16     2.118    2.557  104.5   22.2   272   11.7 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   17 25 42.1   -16 44 41     2.107    2.559  105.4   22.1   272   11.7 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   17 26 14.0   -16 43 04     2.096    2.561  106.2   22.0   271   11.7 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   17 26 44.4   -16 41 26     2.085    2.563  107.1   21.9   271   11.7 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   17 27 13.2   -16 39 45     2.075    2.565  108.0   21.7   271   11.7 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   17 27 40.4   -16 38 03     2.064    2.567  108.8   21.6   271   11.7 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   17 28 06.1   -16 36 19     2.054    2.569  109.7   21.5   271   11.6 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   17 28 30.2   -16 34 33     2.043    2.571  110.6   21.3   271   11.6 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   17 28 52.6   -16 32 46     2.033    2.573  111.5   21.2   270   11.6 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   17 29 13.5   -16 30 57     2.023    2.575  112.4   21.1   270   11.6 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   17 29 32.7   -16 29 07     2.013    2.577  113.3   20.9   270   11.6 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   17 29 50.3   -16 27 16     2.002    2.579  114.2   20.7   270   11.6 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   17 30 06.3   -16 25 24     1.992    2.581  115.1   20.6   270   11.6 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   17 30 20.6   -16 23 31     1.982    2.583  116.0   20.4   270   11.5 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   17 30 33.2   -16 21 36     1.973    2.585  116.9   20.2   269   11.5 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   17 30 44.2   -16 19 41     1.963    2.587  117.9   20.0   269   11.5 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   17 30 53.4   -16 17 45     1.953    2.589  118.8   19.8   269   11.5 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   17 31 01.0   -16 15 48     1.944    2.591  119.7   19.6   269   11.5 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   17 31 06.9   -16 13 51     1.934    2.593  120.7   19.4   269   11.5 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   17 31 11.1   -16 11 53     1.925    2.595  121.6   19.2   269   11.5 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   17 31 13.5   -16 09 54     1.916    2.597  122.6   19.0   268   11.4 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   17 31 14.2   -16 07 55     1.906    2.599  123.5   18.8   268   11.4 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   17 31 13.2   -16 05 56     1.897    2.601  124.5   18.5   268   11.4 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   17 31 10.5   -16 03 56     1.889    2.603  125.5   18.3   268   11.4 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   17 31 06.0   -16 01 56     1.880    2.605  126.5   18.1   268   11.4 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   17 30 59.8   -15 59 56     1.871    2.607  127.5   17.8   267   11.4 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   17 30 51.8   -15 57 56     1.863    2.609  128.5   17.6   267   11.3 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   17 30 42.1   -15 55 56     1.854    2.611  129.5   17.3   267   11.3 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   17 30 30.7   -15 53 57     1.846    2.613  130.5   17.0   267   11.3 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   17 30 17.5   -15 51 57     1.838    2.615  131.5   16.8   266   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.