(172) Baucis
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Aug 2026	13.8	2.354 AU	2.820 AU	05h25m	+31°33'	53.0°	20.1°
Opposition	31 Dec 2026	12.1	2.526 AU	1.558 AU	06h46m	+36°01'	167.0°	5.0°

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 Baucis are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1140115
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3793800
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.01619
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 331.88970
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 359.16971
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 62.02846
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 331.07206
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.14440
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.67            
        

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
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   05 25 29.3   +31 33 47     2.820    2.354   53.0   20.1   273   13.8 
2026-08-08 23:52 UT   05 27 23.7   +31 36 58     2.812    2.355   53.5   20.3   273   13.8 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   05 27 24.4   +31 36 59     2.812    2.355   53.5   20.3   273   13.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   05 29 19.0   +31 40 07     2.804    2.357   54.1   20.4   273   13.8 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   05 31 13.3   +31 43 11     2.795    2.358   54.6   20.5   273   13.8 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   05 33 07.1   +31 46 10     2.786    2.359   55.2   20.6   273   13.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   05 35 00.4   +31 49 04     2.778    2.360   55.7   20.8   273   13.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   05 36 53.3   +31 51 55     2.769    2.362   56.3   20.9   273   13.8 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   05 38 45.8   +31 54 41     2.760    2.363   56.8   21.0   274   13.8 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   05 40 37.7   +31 57 24     2.751    2.364   57.4   21.1   274   13.8 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   05 42 29.2   +32 00 02     2.742    2.366   57.9   21.3   274   13.8 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   05 44 20.2   +32 02 36     2.733    2.367   58.5   21.4   274   13.8 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   05 46 10.7   +32 05 07     2.724    2.368   59.0   21.5   274   13.8 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   05 48 00.6   +32 07 33     2.715    2.369   59.6   21.6   274   13.8 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   05 49 50.0   +32 09 56     2.705    2.371   60.2   21.7   274   13.8 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   05 51 38.9   +32 12 16     2.696    2.372   60.7   21.8   274   13.8 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   05 53 27.2   +32 14 31     2.687    2.373   61.3   22.0   274   13.8 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   05 55 15.0   +32 16 44     2.677    2.374   61.9   22.1   274   13.8 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   05 57 02.1   +32 18 53     2.668    2.376   62.5   22.2   274   13.8 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   05 58 48.7   +32 20 58     2.658    2.377   63.0   22.3   274   13.8 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   06 00 34.7   +32 23 00     2.648    2.378   63.6   22.4   275   13.8 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   06 02 20.1   +32 24 60     2.638    2.380   64.2   22.5   275   13.8 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   06 04 04.9   +32 26 56     2.629    2.381   64.8   22.6   275   13.8 

    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.