(218) Bianca
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	20 Apr 2024	14.3	2.697 AU	3.380 AU	23h16m	-01°09'	40.5°	14.0°
Opposition	30 Sep 2024	12.7	2.870 AU	1.874 AU	00h42m	-03°14'	172.7°	2.5°

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 Bianca are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1164020
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6666601
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.19894
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 170.55933
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 62.34428
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 84.44221
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 232.05647
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.42774
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.35            
        

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
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   23 16 56.4   -01 09 44     3.380    2.697   40.5   14.0   251   14.3 
2024-04-20 09:48 UT   23 17 32.3   -01 06 53     3.377    2.697   40.8   14.1   251   14.3 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   23 18 24.2   -01 02 45     3.373    2.698   41.1   14.2   251   14.3 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   23 19 51.6   +00 55 48     3.366    2.699   41.7   14.3   250   14.3 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   23 21 18.7   +00 48 53     3.358    2.701   42.3   14.5   250   14.3 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   23 22 45.5   +00 41 60     3.350    2.702   42.9   14.7   250   14.3 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   23 24 12.0   +00 35 08     3.343    2.703   43.5   14.8   250   14.3 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   23 25 38.1   +00 28 19     3.335    2.704   44.1   15.0   250   14.3 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   23 27 03.9   +00 21 32     3.327    2.705   44.7   15.2   250   14.3 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   23 28 29.3   +00 14 47     3.319    2.707   45.3   15.3   250   14.3 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   23 29 54.4   +00 08 04     3.311    2.708   45.9   15.5   250   14.3 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   23 31 19.2   +00 01 23     3.302    2.709   46.5   15.6   249   14.3 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   23 32 43.6   +00 05 15     3.294    2.710   47.1   15.8   249   14.3 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   23 34 07.6   +00 11 51     3.286    2.711   47.7   15.9   249   14.3 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   23 35 31.3   +00 18 25     3.277    2.713   48.3   16.1   249   14.3 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   23 36 54.6   +00 24 56     3.268    2.714   48.9   16.3   249   14.3 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   23 38 17.6   +00 31 24     3.260    2.715   49.5   16.4   249   14.3 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   23 39 40.2   +00 37 49     3.251    2.716   50.1   16.6   249   14.3 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   23 41 02.4   +00 44 12     3.242    2.717   50.7   16.7   249   14.3 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   23 42 24.2   +00 50 32     3.233    2.719   51.3   16.8   249   14.3 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   23 43 45.6   +00 56 48     3.224    2.720   51.9   17.0   249   14.3 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   23 45 06.6   +01 03 02     3.214    2.721   52.5   17.1   248   14.3 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   23 46 27.2   +01 09 12     3.205    2.722   53.2   17.3   248   14.3 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   23 47 47.4   +01 15 19     3.196    2.723   53.8   17.4   248   14.3 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   23 49 07.2   +01 21 23     3.186    2.724   54.4   17.5   248   14.3 

    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.