(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Sep 2025	11.8	2.944 AU	2.351 AU	03h54m	+10°42'	116.9°	17.7°
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)                : 0.1118220
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0916616
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.48093
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 128.58150
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 343.00476
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 276.20584
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.72268
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.18094
            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. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   03 54 18.3   +10 42 54     2.351    2.944  116.9   17.7   263   11.8 
2025-09-19 04:13 UT   03 54 20.7   +10 42 31     2.348    2.944  117.0   17.7   263   11.8 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   03 54 31.4   +10 40 42     2.338    2.943  117.8   17.6   263   11.8 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   03 54 43.1   +10 38 27     2.325    2.942  118.7   17.4   263   11.7 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   03 54 53.5   +10 36 08     2.313    2.941  119.6   17.3   263   11.7 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   03 55 02.5   +10 33 44     2.300    2.940  120.5   17.1   264   11.7 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   03 55 10.1   +10 31 16     2.288    2.939  121.5   16.9   264   11.7 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   03 55 16.3   +10 28 45     2.276    2.938  122.4   16.8   264   11.7 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   03 55 21.1   +10 26 09     2.264    2.937  123.3   16.6   264   11.7 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   03 55 24.5   +10 23 30     2.252    2.936  124.3   16.4   265   11.6 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   03 55 26.5   +10 20 47     2.240    2.935  125.3   16.2   265   11.6 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   03 55 27.0   +10 18 01     2.228    2.934  126.2   16.0   265   11.6 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   03 55 26.1   +10 15 11     2.217    2.933  127.2   15.8   266   11.6 
2025-10-01 00:00 UT   03 55 23.8   +10 12 18     2.206    2.932  128.2   15.6   266   11.6 
2025-10-02 00:00 UT   03 55 20.1   +10 09 22     2.194    2.931  129.1   15.4   266   11.5 
2025-10-03 00:00 UT   03 55 14.9   +10 06 22     2.183    2.930  130.1   15.1   266   11.5 
2025-10-04 00:00 UT   03 55 08.4   +10 03 20     2.172    2.929  131.1   14.9   267   11.5 
2025-10-05 00:00 UT   03 55 00.3   +10 00 14     2.162    2.928  132.1   14.7   267   11.5 
2025-10-06 00:00 UT   03 54 50.9   +09 57 06     2.151    2.927  133.1   14.4   268   11.5 
2025-10-07 00:00 UT   03 54 40.0   +09 53 55     2.141    2.926  134.1   14.2   268   11.4 
2025-10-08 00:00 UT   03 54 27.7   +09 50 42     2.131    2.925  135.1   14.0   268   11.4 
2025-10-09 00:00 UT   03 54 13.9   +09 47 26     2.120    2.924  136.1   13.7   269   11.4 
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   03 53 58.7   +09 44 07     2.111    2.923  137.1   13.4   269   11.4 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   03 53 42.1   +09 40 46     2.101    2.922  138.2   13.2   270   11.4 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   03 53 24.1   +09 37 24     2.092    2.921  139.2   12.9   270   11.3 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   03 53 04.7   +09 33 59     2.082    2.920  140.2   12.6   270   11.3 
2025-10-14 00:00 UT   03 52 43.9   +09 30 33     2.073    2.919  141.2   12.4   271   11.3 
2025-10-15 00:00 UT   03 52 21.7   +09 27 04     2.064    2.918  142.3   12.1   272   11.3 
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   03 51 58.1   +09 23 35     2.056    2.917  143.3   11.8   272   11.3 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   03 51 33.1   +09 20 04     2.047    2.916  144.4   11.5   273   11.2 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   03 51 06.9   +09 16 32     2.039    2.915  145.4   11.2   273   11.2 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   03 50 39.2   +09 12 59     2.031    2.914  146.5   10.9   274   11.2 

    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.