(28) Bellona
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Jan 2025	10.3	2.363 AU	1.394 AU	09h01m	+12°33'	167.0°	5.4°
Opposition	31 Jan 2025	10.0	2.364 AU	1.380 AU	08h53m	+13°50'	176.5°	1.5°

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 Bellona are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1493356
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7781400
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.42186
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 144.15684
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 343.38567
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 340.33944
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 127.75452
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.68283
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.63            
        

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
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   09 01 40.0   +12 33 27     1.394    2.363  167.0    5.4   305   10.3 
2025-01-22 04:45 UT   09 01 30.8   +12 34 59     1.393    2.363  167.2    5.3   305   10.3 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   09 00 53.5   +12 41 12     1.391    2.363  168.2    4.9   307   10.2 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   09 00 06.2   +12 49 03     1.389    2.363  169.4    4.4   308   10.2 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   08 59 18.4   +12 57 00     1.387    2.363  170.5    3.9   311   10.2 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   08 58 29.9   +13 05 03     1.385    2.364  171.7    3.5   314   10.2 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   08 57 41.0   +13 13 10     1.383    2.364  172.8    3.0   318   10.1 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   08 56 51.7   +13 21 22     1.382    2.364  173.8    2.6   324   10.1 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   08 56 02.1   +13 29 38     1.381    2.364  174.8    2.1   331   10.1 
2025-01-30 00:00 UT   08 55 12.2   +13 37 57     1.380    2.364  175.7    1.8   342   10.0 
2025-01-31 00:00 UT   08 54 22.1   +13 46 19     1.380    2.364  176.3    1.5   358   10.0 
2025-02-01 00:00 UT   08 53 32.0   +13 54 43     1.380    2.364  176.6    1.4    18   10.0 
2025-02-02 00:00 UT   08 52 41.8   +14 03 10     1.380    2.364  176.4    1.5    38   10.0 
2025-02-03 00:00 UT   08 51 51.7   +14 11 37     1.380    2.364  175.8    1.7    54   10.0 
2025-02-04 00:00 UT   08 51 01.8   +14 20 05     1.381    2.364  175.0    2.1    66   10.1 
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   08 50 12.2   +14 28 33     1.382    2.365  174.0    2.5    74   10.1 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   08 49 22.8   +14 37 01     1.383    2.365  173.0    2.9    80   10.1 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   08 48 33.9   +14 45 29     1.385    2.365  171.9    3.4    84   10.2 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   08 47 45.4   +14 53 54     1.386    2.365  170.7    3.9    88   10.2 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   08 46 57.5   +15 02 19     1.388    2.365  169.6    4.3    90   10.2 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   08 46 10.2   +15 10 40     1.391    2.365  168.4    4.8    92   10.2 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   08 45 23.6   +15 18 59     1.393    2.366  167.2    5.3    94   10.3 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   08 44 37.7   +15 27 15     1.396    2.366  166.0    5.8    95   10.3 
2025-02-13 00:00 UT   08 43 52.7   +15 35 28     1.399    2.366  164.8    6.3    96   10.3 
2025-02-14 00:00 UT   08 43 08.5   +15 43 36     1.402    2.366  163.6    6.7    97   10.4 
2025-02-15 00:00 UT   08 42 25.3   +15 51 40     1.406    2.367  162.5    7.2    98   10.4 
2025-02-16 00:00 UT   08 41 43.2   +15 59 40     1.410    2.367  161.3    7.7    98   10.4 
2025-02-17 00:00 UT   08 41 02.0   +16 07 34     1.414    2.367  160.1    8.2    99   10.4 
2025-02-18 00:00 UT   08 40 22.1   +16 15 23     1.418    2.367  158.9    8.6   100   10.5 
2025-02-19 00:00 UT   08 39 43.3   +16 23 06     1.423    2.367  157.7    9.1   100   10.5 
2025-02-20 00:00 UT   08 39 05.7   +16 30 43     1.428    2.368  156.5    9.6   100   10.5 
2025-02-21 00:00 UT   08 38 29.5   +16 38 13     1.433    2.368  155.4   10.0   101   10.6 

    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.