(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	9 Aug 2026	11.5	3.047 AU	2.090 AU	22h46m	-09°17'	156.4°	7.6°
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
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   22 46 47.2   -09 17 55     2.090    3.047  156.4    7.6   251   11.5 
2026-08-09 09:23 UT   22 46 31.7   -09 20 08     2.088    3.047  156.9    7.5   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 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   22 38 44.1   -10 24 27     2.042    3.042  169.2    3.6   257   11.2 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   22 37 56.2   -10 30 47     2.039    3.042  170.3    3.2   258   11.2 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   22 37 07.9   -10 37 08     2.037    3.041  171.5    2.8   260   11.2 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   22 36 19.2   -10 43 30     2.035    3.041  172.7    2.4   262   11.2 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   22 35 30.2   -10 49 53     2.033    3.040  173.8    2.1   265   11.1 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   22 34 40.8   -10 56 17     2.031    3.040  174.9    1.7   269   11.1 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   22 33 51.2   -11 02 40     2.030    3.039  176.0    1.3   276   11.1 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   22 33 01.3   -11 09 04     2.029    3.039  177.0    1.0   287   11.0 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   22 32 11.2   -11 15 26     2.029    3.038  177.8    0.7   307   11.0 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   22 31 21.1   -11 21 48     2.028    3.038  178.1    0.6   339   11.0 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   22 30 30.8   -11 28 08     2.028    3.037  177.7    0.8    10   11.0 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   22 29 40.6   -11 34 27     2.028    3.037  176.9    1.0    29   11.0 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   22 28 50.3   -11 40 43     2.029    3.036  175.9    1.4    40   11.1 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   22 28 00.1   -11 46 58     2.029    3.036  174.8    1.7    46   11.1 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   22 27 10.1   -11 53 10     2.030    3.035  173.7    2.1    50   11.1 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   22 26 20.2   -11 59 19     2.032    3.034  172.5    2.5    53   11.2 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   22 25 30.6   -12 05 24     2.033    3.034  171.4    2.9    55   11.2 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   22 24 41.2   -12 11 26     2.035    3.033  170.2    3.2    56   11.2 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   22 23 52.1   -12 17 25     2.037    3.033  169.0    3.6    58   11.2 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   22 23 03.4   -12 23 19     2.040    3.032  167.8    4.0    59   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.