(52) Europa
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Jun 2026	12.1	2.752 AU	3.745 AU	06h24m	+20°37'	10.6°	3.9°
Opposition	24 Feb 2027	10.5	2.829 AU	1.842 AU	10h39m	+14°11'	174.6°	1.9°

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)                : 0.1124827
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0941359
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.48150
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 128.57341
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 342.80398
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 348.92279
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 111.51525
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.20611
            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
2026-06-17 00:00 UT   06 24 18.7   +20 37 54     3.745    2.752   10.6    3.9   107   12.1 
2026-06-17 21:41 UT   06 25 56.2   +20 38 01     3.747    2.752   10.1    3.7   108   12.1 
2026-06-18 00:00 UT   06 26 06.6   +20 38 02     3.747    2.752   10.0    3.7   108   12.1 
2026-06-19 00:00 UT   06 27 54.7   +20 38 05     3.749    2.752    9.5    3.5   109   12.1 
2026-06-20 00:00 UT   06 29 42.7   +20 38 04     3.751    2.752    9.0    3.3   110   12.0 
2026-06-21 00:00 UT   06 31 30.8   +20 37 57     3.752    2.751    8.5    3.1   111   12.0 
2026-06-22 00:00 UT   06 33 19.0   +20 37 46     3.754    2.751    8.0    2.9   112   12.0 
2026-06-23 00:00 UT   06 35 07.2   +20 37 29     3.755    2.751    7.5    2.8   113   12.0 
2026-06-24 00:00 UT   06 36 55.4   +20 37 08     3.757    2.751    7.0    2.6   115   12.0 
2026-06-25 00:00 UT   06 38 43.7   +20 36 41     3.758    2.751    6.5    2.4   117   12.0 
2026-06-26 00:00 UT   06 40 32.0   +20 36 10     3.759    2.750    6.0    2.2   119   12.0 
2026-06-27 00:00 UT   06 42 20.3   +20 35 33     3.760    2.750    5.5    2.0   121   12.0 
2026-06-28 00:00 UT   06 44 08.6   +20 34 52     3.761    2.750    5.0    1.8   124   11.9 
2026-06-29 00:00 UT   06 45 56.9   +20 34 06     3.762    2.750    4.5    1.7   127   11.9 
2026-06-30 00:00 UT   06 47 45.2   +20 33 15     3.763    2.750    4.1    1.5   131   11.9 
2026-07-01 00:00 UT   06 49 33.5   +20 32 19     3.763    2.749    3.7    1.4   136   11.9 
2026-07-02 00:00 UT   06 51 21.8   +20 31 18     3.764    2.749    3.3    1.2   142   11.9 
2026-07-03 00:00 UT   06 53 10.1   +20 30 13     3.764    2.749    2.9    1.1   149   11.9 
2026-07-04 00:00 UT   06 54 58.4   +20 29 02     3.764    2.749    2.6    1.0   159   11.9 
2026-07-05 00:00 UT   06 56 46.7   +20 27 47     3.764    2.749    2.4    0.9   170   11.9 
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   06 58 35.0   +20 26 27     3.764    2.749    2.3    0.9   183   11.9 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   07 00 23.2   +20 25 02     3.764    2.749    2.3    0.9   196   11.9 

    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.