(61) Danae
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	2 Aug 2025	11.6	2.508 AU	1.610 AU	23h05m	-07°00'	144.8°	13.5°
Opposition	1 Sep 2025	10.8	2.499 AU	1.490 AU	22h38m	-05°16'	176.9°	1.2°

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 Danae are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1639653
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.9854583
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.20454
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.54329
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 12.88161
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 332.19325
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 345.80012
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.99376
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.16            
        

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
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   23 05 53.6   -07 00 50     1.610    2.508  144.8   13.5   249   11.6 
2025-08-02 11:20 UT   23 05 36.6   -06 58 46     1.607    2.508  145.3   13.3   249   11.5 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   23 05 17.1   -06 56 29     1.603    2.508  145.8   13.1   249   11.5 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   23 04 39.0   -06 52 11     1.595    2.507  146.9   12.8   249   11.5 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   23 03 59.4   -06 47 58     1.588    2.507  148.0   12.4   249   11.5 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   23 03 18.4   -06 43 50     1.582    2.507  149.1   12.0   248   11.5 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   23 02 35.9   -06 39 45     1.575    2.506  150.2   11.6   248   11.4 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   23 01 52.0   -06 35 45     1.569    2.506  151.3   11.2   248   11.4 
2025-08-09 00:00 UT   23 01 06.6   -06 31 49     1.563    2.505  152.4   10.8   248   11.4 
2025-08-10 00:00 UT   23 00 20.0   -06 27 57     1.557    2.505  153.5   10.4   248   11.4 
2025-08-11 00:00 UT   22 59 32.0   -06 24 09     1.551    2.505  154.6   10.0   247   11.3 
2025-08-12 00:00 UT   22 58 42.7   -06 20 25     1.546    2.504  155.8    9.6   247   11.3 
2025-08-13 00:00 UT   22 57 52.2   -06 16 45     1.540    2.504  156.9    9.1   247   11.3 
2025-08-14 00:00 UT   22 57 00.4   -06 13 08     1.535    2.504  158.0    8.7   246   11.3 
2025-08-15 00:00 UT   22 56 07.6   -06 09 36     1.531    2.503  159.2    8.3   246   11.2 
2025-08-16 00:00 UT   22 55 13.6   -06 06 08     1.526    2.503  160.3    7.8   246   11.2 
2025-08-17 00:00 UT   22 54 18.5   -06 02 43     1.522    2.503  161.4    7.4   245   11.2 
2025-08-18 00:00 UT   22 53 22.4   -05 59 21     1.518    2.502  162.6    7.0   244   11.2 
2025-08-19 00:00 UT   22 52 25.4   -05 56 03     1.514    2.502  163.7    6.5   244   11.1 
2025-08-20 00:00 UT   22 51 27.5   -05 52 49     1.511    2.502  164.9    6.1   243   11.1 
2025-08-21 00:00 UT   22 50 28.8   -05 49 38     1.508    2.501  166.0    5.6   242   11.1 
2025-08-22 00:00 UT   22 49 29.3   -05 46 30     1.505    2.501  167.2    5.1   241   11.0 
2025-08-23 00:00 UT   22 48 29.1   -05 43 24     1.502    2.501  168.3    4.7   239   11.0 
2025-08-24 00:00 UT   22 47 28.2   -05 40 22     1.500    2.501  169.5    4.2   238   11.0 
2025-08-25 00:00 UT   22 46 26.8   -05 37 23     1.498    2.500  170.6    3.8   236   11.0 
2025-08-26 00:00 UT   22 45 25.0   -05 34 26     1.496    2.500  171.7    3.3   233   10.9 
2025-08-27 00:00 UT   22 44 22.7   -05 31 31     1.494    2.500  172.8    2.9   229   10.9 
2025-08-28 00:00 UT   22 43 20.0   -05 28 38     1.493    2.500  173.9    2.5   225   10.9 
2025-08-29 00:00 UT   22 42 17.1   -05 25 48     1.492    2.499  174.9    2.1   218   10.8 
2025-08-30 00:00 UT   22 41 14.1   -05 22 60     1.491    2.499  175.8    1.7   208   10.8 
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   22 40 10.8   -05 20 13     1.491    2.499  176.5    1.4   194   10.8 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   22 39 07.6   -05 17 28     1.490    2.499  176.9    1.3   174   10.8 

    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.