(344) Desiderata
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2025	11.0	1.975 AU	1.116 AU	16h38m	-24°07'	137.3°	20.2°
Opposition	27 May 2025	9.9	1.877 AU	0.876 AU	16h08m	-34°03'	167.1°	6.9°

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 Desiderata are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3138851
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5965348
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.35186
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 47.99622
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 237.37845
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 335.11184
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 104.00231
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -15.37787
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.18            
        

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
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   16 38 53.6   -24 07 50     1.116    1.975  137.3   20.2   280   11.0 
2025-04-19 04:46 UT   16 38 53.2   -24 10 35     1.114    1.974  137.4   20.1   280   11.0 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   16 38 50.7   -24 21 48     1.106    1.972  138.2   19.9   280   11.0 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   16 38 45.4   -24 35 55     1.096    1.969  139.1   19.5   281   11.0 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   16 38 37.7   -24 50 12     1.087    1.966  140.1   19.1   281   10.9 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   16 38 27.6   -25 04 37     1.077    1.964  141.1   18.8   282   10.9 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   16 38 15.0   -25 19 12     1.068    1.961  142.0   18.4   282   10.9 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   16 37 59.9   -25 33 55     1.059    1.958  143.0   18.0   283   10.8 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   16 37 42.3   -25 48 47     1.050    1.955  144.0   17.6   283   10.8 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   16 37 22.2   -26 03 47     1.041    1.952  145.0   17.2   284   10.7 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   16 36 59.5   -26 18 55     1.032    1.950  146.0   16.8   284   10.7 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   16 36 34.3   -26 34 11     1.024    1.947  146.9   16.4   285   10.7 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   16 36 06.6   -26 49 34     1.016    1.944  147.9   16.0   286   10.6 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   16 35 36.3   -27 05 05     1.008    1.942  148.9   15.5   287   10.6 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   16 35 03.5   -27 20 41     1.000    1.939  149.9   15.1   288   10.6 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   16 34 28.2   -27 36 24     0.992    1.936  150.9   14.7   288   10.5 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   16 33 50.3   -27 52 13     0.985    1.934  151.9   14.2   290   10.5 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   16 33 10.0   -28 08 07     0.978    1.931  152.9   13.8   291   10.5 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   16 32 27.1   -28 24 05     0.971    1.929  153.9   13.3   292   10.4 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   16 31 41.9   -28 40 07     0.964    1.926  154.9   12.8   293   10.4 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   16 30 54.1   -28 56 13     0.958    1.923  155.9   12.4   295   10.4 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   16 30 04.0   -29 12 22     0.951    1.921  156.8   11.9   296   10.3 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   16 29 11.5   -29 28 33     0.945    1.918  157.8   11.5   298   10.3 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   16 28 16.7   -29 44 45     0.939    1.916  158.7   11.0   300   10.3 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   16 27 19.6   -30 00 58     0.934    1.913  159.7   10.6   302   10.2 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   16 26 20.3   -30 17 10     0.928    1.911  160.6   10.1   304   10.2 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   16 25 18.8   -30 33 22     0.923    1.908  161.4    9.7   307   10.2 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   16 24 15.1   -30 49 33     0.918    1.906  162.3    9.3   309   10.1 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   16 23 09.4   -31 05 40     0.913    1.904  163.1    8.9   313   10.1 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   16 22 01.7   -31 21 45     0.909    1.901  163.9    8.5   316   10.1 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   16 20 52.1   -31 37 45     0.905    1.899  164.6    8.1   320   10.0 

    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.