(4954) Eric
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 May 2026	16.8	2.896 AU	1.934 AU	14h52m	-39°25'	158.0°	7.5°

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
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   14 52 17.8   -39 25 25     1.934    2.896  158.0    7.5    24   16.8 
2026-05-16 16:08 UT   14 51 19.0   -39 23 08     1.934    2.896  157.9    7.6    27   16.8 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   14 50 50.4   -39 21 58     1.934    2.896  157.8    7.6    28   16.8 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   14 49 23.7   -39 18 17     1.935    2.895  157.6    7.7    31   16.8 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   14 47 57.7   -39 14 23     1.935    2.895  157.2    7.8    34   16.8 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   14 46 32.4   -39 10 15     1.937    2.894  156.9    7.9    38   16.8 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   14 45 08.1   -39 05 55     1.938    2.894  156.4    8.0    41   16.8 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   14 43 44.8   -39 01 22     1.940    2.893  156.0    8.2    44   16.9 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   14 42 22.6   -38 56 38     1.942    2.893  155.4    8.4    47   16.9 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   14 41 01.4   -38 51 42     1.944    2.893  154.9    8.6    49   16.9 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   14 39 41.5   -38 46 36     1.946    2.892  154.2    8.8    52   16.9 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   14 38 22.9   -38 41 19     1.949    2.891  153.6    9.0    55   16.9 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   14 37 05.6   -38 35 53     1.952    2.891  152.9    9.2    57   16.9 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   14 35 49.6   -38 30 17     1.955    2.890  152.2    9.4    59   16.9 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   14 34 35.2   -38 24 33     1.959    2.890  151.4    9.6    61   16.9 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   14 33 22.2   -38 18 41     1.963    2.889  150.7    9.9    64   17.0 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   14 32 10.9   -38 12 41     1.967    2.889  149.9   10.1    66   17.0 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   14 31 01.1   -38 06 34     1.971    2.888  149.1   10.4    67   17.0 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   14 29 53.0   -38 00 20     1.975    2.887  148.2   10.7    69   17.0 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   14 28 46.5   -37 54 01     1.980    2.887  147.4   10.9    71   17.0 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   14 27 41.8   -37 47 35     1.985    2.886  146.5   11.2    73   17.0 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   14 26 38.9   -37 41 06     1.990    2.885  145.6   11.4    74   17.0 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   14 25 37.8   -37 34 31     1.996    2.885  144.7   11.7    76   17.1 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   14 24 38.6   -37 27 53     2.002    2.884  143.8   12.0    77   17.1 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   14 23 41.2   -37 21 12     2.008    2.883  142.9   12.3    78   17.1 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   14 22 45.7   -37 14 27     2.014    2.882  142.0   12.5    80   17.1 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   14 21 52.1   -37 07 41     2.020    2.882  141.1   12.8    81   17.1 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   14 21 00.5   -37 00 53     2.027    2.881  140.2   13.1    82   17.1 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   14 20 10.8   -36 54 04     2.034    2.880  139.2   13.3    83   17.2 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   14 19 23.1   -36 47 14     2.041    2.879  138.3   13.6    84   17.2 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   14 18 37.4   -36 40 24     2.048    2.878  137.3   13.8    85   17.2 
2026-06-15 00:00 UT   14 17 53.7   -36 33 34     2.055    2.877  136.4   14.1    86   17.2 

    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.