(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jul 2026	17.7	2.845 AU	2.349 AU	14h11m	-33°40'	108.8°	19.8°

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 Eric are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4492205
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0015735
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.42561
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.39098
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 52.62893
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 196.79352
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 49.71387
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.76812
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.83            
        

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
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   14 11 11.9   -33 40 41     2.349    2.845  108.8   19.8   104   17.7 
2026-07-15 18:10 UT   14 11 22.7   -33 37 35     2.357    2.843  108.2   19.9   104   17.7 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   14 11 26.4   -33 36 36     2.360    2.843  108.0   19.9   104   17.7 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   14 11 42.4   -33 32 39     2.371    2.842  107.1   20.0   105   17.7 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   14 12 00.0   -33 28 50     2.383    2.840  106.3   20.1   105   17.7 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   14 12 19.2   -33 25 09     2.394    2.839  105.4   20.2   105   17.7 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   14 12 39.9   -33 21 36     2.406    2.838  104.6   20.3   106   17.7 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   14 13 02.1   -33 18 11     2.418    2.836  103.7   20.4   106   17.7 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   14 13 25.9   -33 14 54     2.429    2.835  102.9   20.4   106   17.7 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   14 13 51.1   -33 11 44     2.441    2.833  102.1   20.5   106   17.8 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   14 14 17.7   -33 08 43     2.453    2.832  101.2   20.6   107   17.8 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   14 14 45.8   -33 05 49     2.465    2.830  100.4   20.7   107   17.8 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   14 15 15.2   -33 03 03     2.476    2.829   99.6   20.7   107   17.8 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   14 15 46.1   -33 00 25     2.488    2.827   98.8   20.8   107   17.8 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   14 16 18.3   -32 57 54     2.500    2.826   98.0   20.8   108   17.8 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   14 16 51.8   -32 55 31     2.512    2.824   97.2   20.9   108   17.8 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   14 17 26.7   -32 53 16     2.524    2.823   96.4   20.9   108   17.8 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   14 18 02.9   -32 51 08     2.536    2.821   95.6   21.0   108   17.8 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   14 18 40.4   -32 49 07     2.548    2.819   94.8   21.0   109   17.9 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   14 19 19.1   -32 47 14     2.559    2.818   94.0   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   14 19 59.1   -32 45 28     2.571    2.816   93.2   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   14 20 40.3   -32 43 49     2.583    2.815   92.4   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   14 21 22.8   -32 42 17     2.595    2.813   91.6   21.1   109   17.9 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   14 22 06.4   -32 40 53     2.607    2.811   90.8   21.1   110   17.9 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   14 22 51.3   -32 39 35     2.619    2.809   90.1   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   14 23 37.3   -32 38 25     2.631    2.808   89.3   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   14 24 24.5   -32 37 21     2.643    2.806   88.5   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   14 25 12.9   -32 36 24     2.654    2.804   87.8   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   14 26 02.3   -32 35 34     2.666    2.803   87.0   21.2   110   17.9 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   14 26 53.0   -32 34 50     2.678    2.801   86.3   21.2   111   18.0 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   14 27 44.7   -32 34 13     2.690    2.799   85.5   21.2   111   18.0 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   14 28 37.5   -32 33 43     2.701    2.797   84.8   21.1   111   18.0 

    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.