(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	2 Jul 2025	12.6	3.029 AU	3.441 AU	02h46m	+09°22'	58.1°	16.6°
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
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   02 46 50.4   +09 22 22     3.441    3.029   58.1   16.6   249   12.6 
2025-07-02 04:00 UT   02 47 02.8   +09 23 03     3.439    3.029   58.2   16.6   249   12.6 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   02 48 04.9   +09 26 28     3.428    3.028   58.7   16.7   249   12.6 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   02 49 19.1   +09 30 30     3.416    3.027   59.4   16.8   249   12.6 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   02 50 33.0   +09 34 28     3.403    3.026   60.0   16.9   249   12.6 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   02 51 46.5   +09 38 21     3.390    3.025   60.6   17.0   249   12.6 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   02 52 59.7   +09 42 10     3.378    3.024   61.3   17.1   249   12.6 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   02 54 12.5   +09 45 55     3.365    3.023   61.9   17.3   250   12.6 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   02 55 25.0   +09 49 35     3.352    3.021   62.6   17.4   250   12.6 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   02 56 37.1   +09 53 10     3.339    3.020   63.2   17.5   250   12.6 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   02 57 48.8   +09 56 42     3.326    3.019   63.9   17.6   250   12.6 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   02 59 00.2   +10 00 08     3.313    3.018   64.5   17.7   250   12.6 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   03 00 11.1   +10 03 31     3.299    3.017   65.2   17.8   250   12.6 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   03 01 21.7   +10 06 48     3.286    3.016   65.8   17.9   251   12.6 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   03 02 31.8   +10 10 01     3.273    3.015   66.5   18.0   251   12.6 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   03 03 41.6   +10 13 10     3.259    3.014   67.1   18.1   251   12.6 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   03 04 50.9   +10 16 14     3.246    3.013   67.8   18.2   251   12.6 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   03 05 59.8   +10 19 13     3.232    3.012   68.5   18.3   251   12.5 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   03 07 08.2   +10 22 08     3.219    3.011   69.1   18.4   251   12.5 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   03 08 16.2   +10 24 58     3.205    3.009   69.8   18.5   252   12.5 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   03 09 23.7   +10 27 43     3.192    3.008   70.5   18.6   252   12.5 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   03 10 30.7   +10 30 23     3.178    3.007   71.1   18.6   252   12.5 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   03 11 37.2   +10 32 59     3.164    3.006   71.8   18.7   252   12.5 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   03 12 43.2   +10 35 30     3.150    3.005   72.5   18.8   252   12.5 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   03 13 48.6   +10 37 56     3.136    3.004   73.2   18.9   252   12.5 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   03 14 53.6   +10 40 17     3.122    3.003   73.9   19.0   253   12.5 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   03 15 58.0   +10 42 33     3.109    3.002   74.5   19.0   253   12.5 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   03 17 01.8   +10 44 44     3.095    3.001   75.2   19.1   253   12.5 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   03 18 05.1   +10 46 51     3.080    3.000   75.9   19.2   253   12.5 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   03 19 07.7   +10 48 52     3.066    2.999   76.6   19.2   253   12.5 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   03 20 09.8   +10 50 49     3.052    2.997   77.3   19.3   253   12.4 

    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.