(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Jan 2026	18.2	2.844 AU	3.014 AU	15h25m	-29°28'	70.6°	19.1°

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)                : 0.4493641
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0013784
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.42719
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 358.39637
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 52.62293
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 127.17485
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 49.71295
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 13.76823
            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
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   15 25 09.5   -29 28 38     3.014    2.844   70.6   19.1   281   18.2 
2026-01-27 07:02 UT   15 25 26.6   -29 31 07     3.011    2.844   70.9   19.1   281   18.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   15 26 07.6   -29 37 04     3.002    2.845   71.4   19.2   281   18.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   15 27 04.9   -29 45 30     2.989    2.846   72.2   19.2   281   18.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   15 28 01.4   -29 53 54     2.977    2.848   72.9   19.3   281   18.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   15 28 57.1   -30 02 18     2.964    2.849   73.7   19.4   281   18.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   15 29 52.0   -30 10 40     2.951    2.850   74.5   19.5   281   18.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   15 30 46.0   -30 19 02     2.938    2.852   75.3   19.5   281   18.2 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   15 31 39.2   -30 27 23     2.925    2.853   76.0   19.6   281   18.1 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   15 32 31.4   -30 35 43     2.913    2.854   76.8   19.7   281   18.1 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   15 33 22.7   -30 44 02     2.900    2.855   77.6   19.7   282   18.1 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   15 34 13.1   -30 52 21     2.887    2.856   78.4   19.8   282   18.1 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   15 35 02.6   -31 00 38     2.873    2.858   79.2   19.8   282   18.1 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   15 35 51.1   -31 08 55     2.860    2.859   80.0   19.9   282   18.1 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   15 36 38.6   -31 17 12     2.847    2.860   80.8   19.9   282   18.1 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   15 37 25.0   -31 25 27     2.834    2.861   81.6   19.9   282   18.1 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   15 38 10.5   -31 33 42     2.821    2.862   82.4   20.0   282   18.1 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   15 38 54.8   -31 41 56     2.807    2.863   83.2   20.0   282   18.1 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   15 39 38.1   -31 50 09     2.794    2.864   84.0   20.0   282   18.1 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   15 40 20.3   -31 58 22     2.781    2.865   84.8   20.1   282   18.1 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   15 41 01.3   -32 06 34     2.767    2.867   85.6   20.1   282   18.0 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   15 41 41.2   -32 14 45     2.754    2.868   86.5   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   15 42 19.9   -32 22 56     2.740    2.869   87.3   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   15 42 57.4   -32 31 05     2.727    2.870   88.1   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   15 43 33.7   -32 39 14     2.713    2.871   88.9   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   15 44 08.7   -32 47 23     2.700    2.872   89.8   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   15 44 42.5   -32 55 30     2.686    2.872   90.6   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   15 45 14.9   -33 03 37     2.673    2.873   91.4   20.1   283   18.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   15 45 46.1   -33 11 42     2.659    2.874   92.3   20.1   284   18.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   15 46 15.9   -33 19 47     2.646    2.875   93.1   20.1   284   18.0 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   15 46 44.3   -33 27 52     2.632    2.876   94.0   20.1   284   17.9 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   15 47 11.4   -33 35 55     2.619    2.877   94.8   20.1   284   17.9 

    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.