(344) Desiderata
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Mar 2025	11.8	2.047 AU	1.397 AU	16h29m	-19°17'	116.5°	25.9°
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
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   16 29 41.3   -19 17 52     1.397    2.047  116.5   25.9   278   11.8 
2025-03-26 10:37 UT   16 30 00.9   -19 22 31     1.391    2.045  116.8   25.8   278   11.7 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   16 30 25.0   -19 28 24     1.384    2.044  117.3   25.7   278   11.7 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   16 31 07.2   -19 39 03     1.371    2.041  118.1   25.6   277   11.7 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   16 31 47.8   -19 49 49     1.358    2.037  118.9   25.4   277   11.7 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   16 32 26.7   -20 00 42     1.346    2.034  119.7   25.2   277   11.6 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   16 33 04.0   -20 11 42     1.333    2.031  120.5   25.1   277   11.6 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   16 33 39.6   -20 22 50     1.320    2.028  121.3   24.9   277   11.6 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   16 34 13.4   -20 34 06     1.308    2.025  122.2   24.7   277   11.6 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   16 34 45.5   -20 45 29     1.296    2.022  123.0   24.5   278   11.5 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   16 35 15.9   -20 57 01     1.283    2.019  123.8   24.3   278   11.5 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   16 35 44.4   -21 08 41     1.271    2.016  124.7   24.1   278   11.5 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   16 36 11.0   -21 20 29     1.259    2.013  125.6   23.9   278   11.4 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   16 36 35.8   -21 32 27     1.247    2.010  126.4   23.6   278   11.4 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   16 36 58.7   -21 44 33     1.236    2.007  127.3   23.4   278   11.4 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   16 37 19.6   -21 56 48     1.224    2.004  128.2   23.1   278   11.3 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   16 37 38.5   -22 09 12     1.213    2.001  129.0   22.9   278   11.3 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   16 37 55.4   -22 21 45     1.201    1.998  129.9   22.6   278   11.3 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   16 38 10.3   -22 34 28     1.190    1.995  130.8   22.3   278   11.3 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   16 38 23.0   -22 47 20     1.179    1.992  131.7   22.1   279   11.2 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   16 38 33.7   -23 00 21     1.168    1.989  132.6   21.8   279   11.2 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   16 38 42.1   -23 13 32     1.157    1.986  133.5   21.5   279   11.2 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   16 38 48.4   -23 26 52     1.147    1.983  134.5   21.2   279   11.1 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   16 38 52.4   -23 40 22     1.136    1.981  135.4   20.9   279   11.1 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   16 38 54.2   -23 54 01     1.126    1.978  136.3   20.5   280   11.1 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   16 38 53.6   -24 07 50     1.116    1.975  137.3   20.2   280   11.0 
2025-04-20 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 

    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.