(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	5 Nov 2025	10.8	2.897 AU	1.932 AU	03h39m	+08°13'	163.6°	5.5°
Opposition	14 Nov 2025	10.7	2.888 AU	1.911 AU	03h32m	+07°45'	169.0°	3.8°

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 Europa are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1120016
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0921934
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.48092
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 128.57908
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 342.95841
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 312.52763
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.67424
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.18671
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.44            
        

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
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   03 39 56.5   +08 13 52     1.932    2.897  163.6    5.5   298   10.8 
2025-11-05 19:20 UT   03 39 19.5   +08 11 17     1.929    2.896  164.3    5.3   300   10.8 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   03 39 10.6   +08 10 40     1.929    2.896  164.5    5.3   301   10.8 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   03 38 24.0   +08 07 31     1.925    2.895  165.3    5.0   304   10.8 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   03 37 36.9   +08 04 26     1.922    2.894  166.1    4.7   308   10.8 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   03 36 49.3   +08 01 24     1.920    2.893  166.8    4.5   312   10.8 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   03 36 01.2   +07 58 26     1.918    2.892  167.4    4.3   317   10.8 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   03 35 12.6   +07 55 32     1.915    2.891  167.9    4.1   322   10.7 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   03 34 23.7   +07 52 43     1.914    2.890  168.4    4.0   327   10.7 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   03 33 34.5   +07 49 58     1.912    2.889  168.7    3.8   333   10.7 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   03 32 45.0   +07 47 18     1.911    2.888  168.9    3.8   339   10.7 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   03 31 55.4   +07 44 43     1.910    2.887  169.0    3.8   346   10.7 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   03 31 05.6   +07 42 13     1.909    2.886  168.9    3.8   352   10.7 
2025-11-17 00:00 UT   03 30 15.7   +07 39 49     1.909    2.885  168.8    3.8   358   10.7 
2025-11-18 00:00 UT   03 29 25.8   +07 37 31     1.909    2.884  168.5    3.9     4   10.7 
2025-11-19 00:00 UT   03 28 35.9   +07 35 19     1.909    2.884  168.0    4.1    10   10.7 
2025-11-20 00:00 UT   03 27 46.1   +07 33 12     1.910    2.883  167.5    4.3    15   10.7 
2025-11-21 00:00 UT   03 26 56.5   +07 31 13     1.911    2.882  166.9    4.5    19   10.7 
2025-11-22 00:00 UT   03 26 07.1   +07 29 19     1.912    2.881  166.2    4.7    24   10.8 
2025-11-23 00:00 UT   03 25 18.0   +07 27 33     1.913    2.880  165.5    4.9    28   10.8 
2025-11-24 00:00 UT   03 24 29.2   +07 25 53     1.915    2.879  164.6    5.2    31   10.8 
2025-11-25 00:00 UT   03 23 40.8   +07 24 20     1.917    2.878  163.8    5.5    34   10.8 
2025-11-26 00:00 UT   03 22 52.9   +07 22 55     1.919    2.877  162.9    5.8    37   10.8 
2025-11-27 00:00 UT   03 22 05.4   +07 21 36     1.922    2.876  162.0    6.1    39   10.8 
2025-11-28 00:00 UT   03 21 18.5   +07 20 26     1.924    2.875  161.0    6.4    42   10.9 
2025-11-29 00:00 UT   03 20 32.3   +07 19 22     1.927    2.874  160.0    6.7    44   10.9 
2025-11-30 00:00 UT   03 19 46.7   +07 18 27     1.931    2.873  159.0    7.1    45   10.9 
2025-12-01 00:00 UT   03 19 01.8   +07 17 39     1.934    2.872  158.0    7.4    47   10.9 
2025-12-02 00:00 UT   03 18 17.6   +07 16 59     1.938    2.872  157.0    7.7    49   10.9 
2025-12-03 00:00 UT   03 17 34.3   +07 16 27     1.942    2.871  155.9    8.1    50   10.9 
2025-12-04 00:00 UT   03 16 51.8   +07 16 03     1.947    2.870  154.9    8.4    51   11.0 
2025-12-05 00:00 UT   03 16 10.2   +07 15 46     1.951    2.869  153.8    8.7    53   11.0 

    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.