(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	5 Jun 2025	10.6	2.695 AU	1.686 AU	17h00m	-14°51'	172.1°	3.0°
Today	17 Jun 2025	10.8	2.716 AU	1.722 AU	16h50m	-14°48'	165.2°	5.5°

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
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   16 50 04.2   -14 48 50     1.722    2.716  165.2    5.5   127   10.8 
2025-06-17 06:33 UT   16 49 49.5   -14 48 53     1.723    2.717  164.9    5.6   127   10.8 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   16 49 10.9   -14 49 03     1.726    2.718  164.2    5.8   125   10.8 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   16 48 18.4   -14 49 20     1.731    2.720  163.2    6.2   123   10.8 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   16 47 26.8   -14 49 41     1.737    2.722  162.1    6.6   121   10.9 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   16 46 36.0   -14 50 07     1.742    2.723  161.1    6.9   120   10.9 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   16 45 46.1   -14 50 37     1.748    2.725  160.0    7.3   118   10.9 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   16 44 57.3   -14 51 11     1.754    2.727  159.0    7.7   117   10.9 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   16 44 09.5   -14 51 50     1.760    2.729  157.9    8.0   116   11.0 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   16 43 22.7   -14 52 33     1.767    2.731  156.9    8.4   115   11.0 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   16 42 37.1   -14 53 21     1.773    2.732  155.8    8.8   114   11.0 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   16 41 52.7   -14 54 13     1.780    2.734  154.7    9.1   113   11.0 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   16 41 09.4   -14 55 09     1.788    2.736  153.7    9.5   113   11.1 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   16 40 27.4   -14 56 10     1.795    2.738  152.6    9.8   112   11.1 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   16 39 46.7   -14 57 15     1.803    2.740  151.5   10.2   111   11.1 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   16 39 07.3   -14 58 25     1.811    2.741  150.5   10.5   111   11.1 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   16 38 29.2   -14 59 39     1.819    2.743  149.4   10.9   110   11.2 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   16 37 52.5   -15 00 57     1.827    2.745  148.3   11.2   110   11.2 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   16 37 17.1   -15 02 20     1.836    2.747  147.3   11.5   109   11.2 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   16 36 43.2   -15 03 47     1.845    2.748  146.2   11.9   109   11.2 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   16 36 10.6   -15 05 18     1.854    2.750  145.2   12.2   108   11.2 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   16 35 39.6   -15 06 53     1.863    2.752  144.2   12.5   108   11.3 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   16 35 09.9   -15 08 32     1.872    2.754  143.1   12.8   107   11.3 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   16 34 41.8   -15 10 16     1.882    2.755  142.1   13.1   107   11.3 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   16 34 15.1   -15 12 03     1.892    2.757  141.0   13.4   107   11.3 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   16 33 50.0   -15 13 55     1.902    2.759  140.0   13.7   106   11.4 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   16 33 26.3   -15 15 50     1.912    2.761  139.0   14.0   106   11.4 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   16 33 04.1   -15 17 50     1.922    2.762  138.0   14.3   106   11.4 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   16 32 43.5   -15 19 53     1.933    2.764  137.0   14.5   106   11.4 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   16 32 24.3   -15 22 00     1.943    2.766  136.0   14.8   105   11.5 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   16 32 06.7   -15 24 11     1.954    2.768  135.0   15.1   105   11.5 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   16 31 50.6   -15 26 26     1.965    2.769  134.0   15.3   105   11.5 

    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.