(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	13 Sep 2026	18.1	2.735 AU	3.028 AU	15h02m	-32°59'	63.7°	19.3°

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
2026-09-13 00:00 UT   15 02 26.4   -32 59 20     3.028    2.735   63.7   19.3   114   18.1 
2026-09-13 20:52 UT   15 03 36.6   -33 00 60     3.036    2.733   63.1   19.2   115   18.1 
2026-09-14 00:00 UT   15 03 47.2   -33 01 15     3.037    2.733   63.1   19.2   115   18.1 
2026-09-15 00:00 UT   15 05 08.8   -33 03 13     3.047    2.731   62.4   19.1   115   18.1 
2026-09-16 00:00 UT   15 06 31.1   -33 05 14     3.056    2.728   61.7   18.9   115   18.1 
2026-09-17 00:00 UT   15 07 54.2   -33 07 18     3.066    2.726   61.1   18.8   115   18.1 
2026-09-18 00:00 UT   15 09 18.0   -33 09 25     3.075    2.723   60.4   18.7   115   18.1 
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   15 10 42.6   -33 11 34     3.084    2.721   59.8   18.6   115   18.1 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   15 12 07.9   -33 13 45     3.094    2.719   59.1   18.5   115   18.1 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   15 13 33.9   -33 15 59     3.103    2.716   58.5   18.4   115   18.1 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   15 15 00.6   -33 18 14     3.111    2.714   57.9   18.3   115   18.1 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   15 16 28.0   -33 20 32     3.120    2.711   57.2   18.1   115   18.1 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   15 17 56.1   -33 22 52     3.129    2.709   56.6   18.0   115   18.1 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   15 19 24.9   -33 25 14     3.137    2.706   55.9   17.9   115   18.1 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   15 20 54.3   -33 27 38     3.146    2.704   55.3   17.8   116   18.1 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   15 22 24.5   -33 30 03     3.154    2.701   54.7   17.6   116   18.1 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   15 23 55.3   -33 32 29     3.162    2.699   54.0   17.5   116   18.1 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   15 25 26.8   -33 34 58     3.171    2.696   53.4   17.4   116   18.1 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   15 26 59.0   -33 37 27     3.179    2.694   52.8   17.2   116   18.1 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   15 28 31.9   -33 39 58     3.187    2.691   52.2   17.1   116   18.1 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   15 30 05.4   -33 42 30     3.194    2.688   51.5   17.0   116   18.1 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   15 31 39.6   -33 45 03     3.202    2.686   50.9   16.8   116   18.1 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   15 33 14.4   -33 47 36     3.210    2.683   50.3   16.7   116   18.1 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   15 34 49.9   -33 50 11     3.217    2.680   49.7   16.5   116   18.1 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   15 36 26.0   -33 52 47     3.224    2.678   49.1   16.4   117   18.1 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   15 38 02.8   -33 55 23     3.231    2.675   48.4   16.2   117   18.1 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   15 39 40.2   -33 57 60     3.239    2.672   47.8   16.1   117   18.1 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   15 41 18.3   -34 00 37     3.245    2.670   47.2   15.9   117   18.1 

    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.