(154) Bertha
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Jul 2025	13.6	3.010 AU	3.770 AU	10h29m	+24°25'	36.2°	11.5°
Opposition	25 Apr 2026	11.5	2.951 AU	1.946 AU	14h15m	-13°00'	178.9°	0.4°

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 Bertha are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0769701
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1932788
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.02200
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 36.47916
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 167.86676
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 308.16011
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 25.13181
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.32416
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.71            
        

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
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   10 29 32.2   +24 25 47     3.770    3.010   36.2   11.5    92   13.6 
2025-07-19 04:25 UT   10 29 47.5   +24 23 39     3.771    3.010   36.1   11.5    92   13.6 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   10 30 55.0   +24 14 15     3.777    3.010   35.6   11.3    92   13.6 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   10 32 18.0   +24 02 42     3.784    3.009   35.1   11.2    92   13.6 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   10 33 41.0   +23 51 08     3.790    3.009   34.5   11.0    92   13.6 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   10 35 04.1   +23 39 34     3.796    3.008   34.0   10.9    91   13.6 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   10 36 27.3   +23 27 59     3.803    3.008   33.4   10.7    91   13.6 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   10 37 50.6   +23 16 24     3.809    3.007   32.9   10.6    91   13.6 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   10 39 14.0   +23 04 48     3.815    3.007   32.4   10.4    90   13.6 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   10 40 37.4   +22 53 11     3.821    3.006   31.8   10.3    90   13.6 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   10 42 00.9   +22 41 34     3.827    3.005   31.3   10.1    90   13.6 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   10 43 24.5   +22 29 56     3.832    3.005   30.7    9.9    89   13.6 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   10 44 48.2   +22 18 18     3.838    3.004   30.2    9.8    89   13.6 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   10 46 11.9   +22 06 39     3.844    3.004   29.7    9.6    88   13.6 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   10 47 35.7   +21 54 60     3.849    3.003   29.1    9.5    88   13.6 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   10 48 59.5   +21 43 20     3.854    3.003   28.6    9.3    88   13.6 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   10 50 23.4   +21 31 40     3.859    3.002   28.1    9.2    87   13.6 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   10 51 47.3   +21 19 60     3.864    3.002   27.6    9.0    87   13.6 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   10 53 11.3   +21 08 19     3.869    3.001   27.1    8.8    86   13.6 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   10 54 35.3   +20 56 38     3.874    3.001   26.5    8.7    86   13.6 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   10 55 59.3   +20 44 56     3.879    3.000   26.0    8.5    85   13.6 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   10 57 23.4   +20 33 14     3.883    3.000   25.5    8.4    85   13.6 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   10 58 47.5   +20 21 32     3.888    3.000   25.0    8.2    84   13.6 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   11 00 11.7   +20 09 50     3.892    2.999   24.5    8.1    84   13.6 

    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.