(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Apr 2024	13.0	3.403 AU	3.690 AU	22h09m	-12°05'	65.8°	15.6°
Opposition	25 Aug 2024	11.3	3.333 AU	2.324 AU	22h26m	-14°32'	175.5°	1.3°

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 Europa are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1115001
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0925981
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.48015
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 128.57923
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 342.91809
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 203.76922
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.63432
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.19151
            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
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   22 09 57.8   -12 05 25     3.690    3.403   65.8   15.6   249   13.0 
2024-04-26 16:27 UT   22 10 37.5   -12 02 39     3.681    3.403   66.3   15.7   249   13.0 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   22 10 55.7   -12 01 23     3.677    3.403   66.5   15.7   249   13.0 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   22 11 53.0   -11 57 24     3.663    3.402   67.2   15.8   249   13.0 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   22 12 49.8   -11 53 27     3.649    3.402   68.0   15.9   249   13.0 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   22 13 46.1   -11 49 33     3.635    3.402   68.7   16.0   249   13.0 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   22 14 41.8   -11 45 43     3.622    3.401   69.4   16.1   249   13.0 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   22 15 37.0   -11 41 55     3.608    3.401   70.2   16.2   249   13.0 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   22 16 31.6   -11 38 10     3.594    3.400   70.9   16.3   249   13.0 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   22 17 25.6   -11 34 29     3.580    3.400   71.7   16.4   249   13.0 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   22 18 19.0   -11 30 50     3.566    3.399   72.4   16.4   249   13.0 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   22 19 11.9   -11 27 16     3.551    3.399   73.1   16.5   249   13.0 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   22 20 04.1   -11 23 44     3.537    3.398   73.9   16.6   249   13.0 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   22 20 55.7   -11 20 17     3.523    3.398   74.6   16.6   249   13.0 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   22 21 46.7   -11 16 53     3.509    3.397   75.4   16.7   249   12.9 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   22 22 37.1   -11 13 32     3.494    3.397   76.1   16.8   249   12.9 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   22 23 26.8   -11 10 16     3.480    3.397   76.9   16.8   248   12.9 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   22 24 15.9   -11 07 03     3.465    3.396   77.7   16.9   248   12.9 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   22 25 04.3   -11 03 54     3.451    3.396   78.4   16.9   248   12.9 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   22 25 52.1   -11 00 50     3.436    3.395   79.2   17.0   248   12.9 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   22 26 39.2   -10 57 49     3.422    3.395   80.0   17.1   248   12.9 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   22 27 25.7   -10 54 53     3.407    3.394   80.7   17.1   248   12.9 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   22 28 11.4   -10 52 01     3.392    3.394   81.5   17.1   248   12.9 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   22 28 56.5   -10 49 14     3.378    3.393   82.3   17.2   248   12.9 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   22 29 40.9   -10 46 30     3.363    3.393   83.1   17.2   248   12.9 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   22 30 24.5   -10 43 52     3.348    3.392   83.8   17.3   248   12.9 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   22 31 07.5   -10 41 18     3.334    3.392   84.6   17.3   248   12.8 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   22 31 49.7   -10 38 49     3.319    3.391   85.4   17.3   248   12.8 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   22 32 31.2   -10 36 24     3.304    3.391   86.2   17.3   248   12.8 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   22 33 11.9   -10 34 04     3.289    3.390   87.0   17.4   248   12.8 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   22 33 51.9   -10 31 49     3.274    3.390   87.8   17.4   248   12.8 
2024-05-26 00:00 UT   22 34 31.2   -10 29 40     3.260    3.389   88.6   17.4   248   12.8 

    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.