(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	10 Oct 2025	11.4	2.923 AU	2.111 AU	03h53m	+09°44'	137.1°	13.4°
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. 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
2025-10-10 00:00 UT   03 53 59.1   +09 44 09     2.111    2.923  137.1   13.4   269   11.4 
2025-10-10 04:45 UT   03 53 55.9   +09 43 29     2.109    2.922  137.3   13.4   269   11.4 
2025-10-11 00:00 UT   03 53 42.5   +09 40 48     2.101    2.922  138.2   13.2   270   11.4 
2025-10-12 00:00 UT   03 53 24.5   +09 37 25     2.091    2.921  139.2   12.9   270   11.3 
2025-10-13 00:00 UT   03 53 05.1   +09 34 01     2.082    2.920  140.2   12.6   270   11.3 
2025-10-14 00:00 UT   03 52 44.3   +09 30 34     2.073    2.919  141.2   12.4   271   11.3 
2025-10-15 00:00 UT   03 52 22.1   +09 27 06     2.064    2.918  142.3   12.1   272   11.3 
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   03 51 58.5   +09 23 37     2.056    2.917  143.3   11.8   272   11.3 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   03 51 33.6   +09 20 06     2.047    2.916  144.4   11.5   273   11.2 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   03 51 07.3   +09 16 34     2.039    2.915  145.4   11.2   273   11.2 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   03 50 39.7   +09 13 01     2.031    2.914  146.5   10.9   274   11.2 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   03 50 10.8   +09 09 28     2.023    2.913  147.5   10.6   275   11.2 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   03 49 40.6   +09 05 54     2.016    2.912  148.6   10.3   275   11.2 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   03 49 09.2   +09 02 19     2.008    2.911  149.6   10.0   276   11.1 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   03 48 36.5   +08 58 45     2.001    2.910  150.7    9.6   277   11.1 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   03 48 02.7   +08 55 11     1.994    2.909  151.7    9.3   278   11.1 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   03 47 27.6   +08 51 37     1.988    2.908  152.7    9.0   279   11.1 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   03 46 51.5   +08 48 04     1.981    2.907  153.8    8.7   280   11.0 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   03 46 14.2   +08 44 31     1.975    2.906  154.8    8.4   281   11.0 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   03 45 35.9   +08 40 60     1.969    2.905  155.9    8.0   282   11.0 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   03 44 56.6   +08 37 30     1.964    2.904  156.9    7.7   284   11.0 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   03 44 16.3   +08 34 01     1.958    2.903  157.9    7.4   285   11.0 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   03 43 35.1   +08 30 34     1.953    2.902  158.9    7.1   287   10.9 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   03 42 53.0   +08 27 09     1.949    2.901  159.9    6.8   289   10.9 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   03 42 10.0   +08 23 46     1.944    2.900  160.9    6.4   291   10.9 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   03 41 26.3   +08 20 25     1.940    2.899  161.8    6.1   293   10.9 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   03 40 41.7   +08 17 07     1.936    2.898  162.7    5.8   295   10.9 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   03 39 56.5   +08 13 52     1.932    2.897  163.6    5.5   298   10.8 
2025-11-06 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 

    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.