(61) Danae
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	1 Sep 2025	10.8	2.499 AU	1.490 AU	22h38m	-05°16'	176.9°	1.2°
Today	2 Oct 2025	11.5	2.496 AU	1.614 AU	22h12m	-03°53'	144.3°	13.5°

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 Danae are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1637877
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.9848133
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.20590
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.54323
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 12.88873
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 10.40468
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 345.80676
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.99622
            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
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   22 12 07.5   -03 53 58     1.614    2.496  144.3   13.5    79   11.5 
2025-10-02 22:16 UT   22 11 38.1   -03 51 09     1.621    2.496  143.3   13.9    78   11.6 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   22 11 35.8   -03 50 56     1.622    2.496  143.2   13.9    78   11.6 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   22 11 05.9   -03 47 51     1.630    2.496  142.1   14.2    78   11.6 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   22 10 37.6   -03 44 44     1.638    2.496  141.1   14.6    78   11.6 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   22 10 11.0   -03 41 34     1.646    2.496  140.0   14.9    78   11.6 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   22 09 46.2   -03 38 21     1.655    2.496  138.9   15.2    78   11.7 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   22 09 23.1   -03 35 05     1.663    2.496  137.9   15.6    77   11.7 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   22 09 01.7   -03 31 47     1.672    2.496  136.9   15.9    77   11.7 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   22 08 42.0   -03 28 25     1.681    2.497  135.8   16.2    77   11.7 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   22 08 24.1   -03 24 60     1.691    2.497  134.8   16.5    77   11.8 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   22 08 07.9   -03 21 32     1.700    2.497  133.8   16.8    77   11.8 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   22 07 53.5   -03 18 01     1.710    2.497  132.7   17.1    76   11.8 
2025-10-14 00:00 UT   22 07 40.8   -03 14 26     1.719    2.497  131.7   17.3    76   11.8 
2025-10-15 00:00 UT   22 07 29.8   -03 10 49     1.729    2.497  130.7   17.6    76   11.8 
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   22 07 20.6   -03 07 07     1.739    2.497  129.7   17.9    76   11.9 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   22 07 13.2   -03 03 22     1.750    2.497  128.7   18.1    76   11.9 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   22 07 07.5   -02 59 34     1.760    2.498  127.8   18.4    76   11.9 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   22 07 03.5   -02 55 42     1.770    2.498  126.8   18.6    75   11.9 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   22 07 01.2   -02 51 46     1.781    2.498  125.8   18.9    75   11.9 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   22 07 00.7   -02 47 46     1.792    2.498  124.8   19.1    75   12.0 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   22 07 01.8   -02 43 42     1.803    2.498  123.9   19.3    75   12.0 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   22 07 04.7   -02 39 34     1.814    2.498  122.9   19.5    75   12.0 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   22 07 09.2   -02 35 23     1.825    2.499  122.0   19.7    75   12.0 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   22 07 15.5   -02 31 07     1.836    2.499  121.1   19.9    74   12.0 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   22 07 23.3   -02 26 46     1.848    2.499  120.1   20.1    74   12.1 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   22 07 32.9   -02 22 22     1.859    2.499  119.2   20.3    74   12.1 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   22 07 44.0   -02 17 54     1.871    2.500  118.3   20.5    74   12.1 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   22 07 56.7   -02 13 21     1.882    2.500  117.4   20.7    74   12.1 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   22 08 11.1   -02 08 44     1.894    2.500  116.5   20.8    74   12.1 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   22 08 27.0   -02 04 02     1.906    2.500  115.6   21.0    73   12.2 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   22 08 44.4   -01 59 16     1.918    2.501  114.7   21.1    73   12.2 

    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.