(505) Cava
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Sep 2026	11.9	2.187 AU	1.318 AU	02h29m	-01°47'	140.4°	17.0°
Opposition	22 Oct 2026	11.2	2.129 AU	1.155 AU	02h11m	-03°54'	163.9°	7.5°

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 Cava are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2424916
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6867910
            i (Inclination)                 : 9.82195
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 90.75538
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 337.21474
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 305.69796
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 68.27064
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -3.78799
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.40            
        

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
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   02 29 43.0   -01 47 43     1.318    2.187  140.4   17.0   271   11.9 
2026-09-21 08:26 UT   02 29 39.7   -01 49 17     1.315    2.187  140.8   16.9   271   11.9 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   02 29 33.2   -01 52 12     1.309    2.185  141.4   16.7   271   11.9 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   02 29 21.5   -01 56 43     1.301    2.183  142.3   16.3   272   11.9 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   02 29 07.9   -02 01 16     1.294    2.181  143.2   16.0   273   11.9 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   02 28 52.6   -02 05 51     1.286    2.179  144.1   15.6   274   11.8 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   02 28 35.3   -02 10 28     1.278    2.177  145.1   15.3   275   11.8 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   02 28 16.3   -02 15 05     1.271    2.175  146.0   14.9   276   11.8 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   02 27 55.4   -02 19 44     1.264    2.174  146.9   14.6   277   11.8 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   02 27 32.7   -02 24 23     1.257    2.172  147.8   14.2   278   11.7 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   02 27 08.3   -02 29 01     1.250    2.170  148.8   13.8   279   11.7 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   02 26 42.0   -02 33 39     1.244    2.168  149.7   13.5   280   11.7 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   02 26 14.0   -02 38 16     1.237    2.166  150.6   13.1   282   11.6 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   02 25 44.3   -02 42 52     1.231    2.164  151.5   12.7   283   11.6 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   02 25 12.8   -02 47 26     1.225    2.162  152.4   12.4   284   11.6 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   02 24 39.7   -02 51 57     1.219    2.160  153.3   12.0   286   11.6 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   02 24 05.0   -02 56 25     1.214    2.158  154.2   11.6   288   11.5 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   02 23 28.7   -03 00 49     1.209    2.156  155.0   11.3   289   11.5 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   02 22 50.8   -03 05 10     1.203    2.155  155.9   10.9   291   11.5 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   02 22 11.4   -03 09 26     1.199    2.153  156.7   10.6   293   11.5 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   02 21 30.5   -03 13 36     1.194    2.151  157.5   10.2   295   11.4 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   02 20 48.3   -03 17 41     1.189    2.149  158.3    9.9   298   11.4 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   02 20 04.7   -03 21 39     1.185    2.147  159.1    9.6   300   11.4 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   02 19 19.9   -03 25 30     1.181    2.146  159.8    9.3   303   11.4 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   02 18 33.8   -03 29 14     1.178    2.144  160.5    9.0   306   11.4 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   02 17 46.7   -03 32 50     1.174    2.142  161.1    8.7   309   11.3 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   02 16 58.4   -03 36 17     1.171    2.140  161.7    8.4   312   11.3 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   02 16 09.2   -03 39 35     1.168    2.139  162.2    8.2   316   11.3 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   02 15 19.0   -03 42 43     1.165    2.137  162.7    8.0   319   11.3 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   02 14 28.0   -03 45 41     1.162    2.135  163.1    7.8   323   11.3 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   02 13 36.3   -03 48 28     1.160    2.134  163.4    7.7   327   11.3 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   02 12 43.9   -03 51 05     1.158    2.132  163.6    7.6   331   11.2 

    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.