(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	22 Dec 2024	11.1	2.300 AU	2.016 AU	11h54m	+05°22'	93.7°	25.3°
Opposition	12 Mar 2025	9.7	2.419 AU	1.432 AU	11h45m	+11°04'	171.2°	3.6°

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 Flora are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1565804
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2010096
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89031
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84571
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.42970
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 78.15445
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.35338
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67730
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.27            
        

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
2024-12-22 00:00 UT   11 54 20.0   +05 22 21     2.016    2.300   93.7   25.3   293   11.1 
2024-12-22 18:37 UT   11 55 02.5   +05 20 23     2.008    2.301   94.3   25.2   293   11.1 
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   11 55 14.6   +05 19 50     2.005    2.302   94.5   25.2   293   11.1 
2024-12-24 00:00 UT   11 56 08.1   +05 17 29     1.994    2.303   95.3   25.2   293   11.1 
2024-12-25 00:00 UT   11 57 00.4   +05 15 17     1.983    2.305   96.1   25.1   293   11.1 
2024-12-26 00:00 UT   11 57 51.4   +05 13 16     1.971    2.306   96.9   25.0   293   11.1 
2024-12-27 00:00 UT   11 58 41.2   +05 11 24     1.960    2.308   97.7   25.0   293   11.0 
2024-12-28 00:00 UT   11 59 29.7   +05 09 42     1.949    2.310   98.5   24.9   293   11.0 
2024-12-29 00:00 UT   12 00 17.0   +05 08 10     1.938    2.311   99.4   24.8   293   11.0 
2024-12-30 00:00 UT   12 01 02.9   +05 06 49     1.927    2.313  100.2   24.7   293   11.0 
2024-12-31 00:00 UT   12 01 47.5   +05 05 38     1.916    2.315  101.0   24.6   293   11.0 
2025-01-01 00:00 UT   12 02 30.8   +05 04 38     1.905    2.316  101.9   24.5   292   11.0 
2025-01-02 00:00 UT   12 03 12.7   +05 03 49     1.894    2.318  102.7   24.4   292   11.0 
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   12 03 53.2   +05 03 10     1.883    2.320  103.6   24.3   292   10.9 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   12 04 32.3   +05 02 42     1.872    2.321  104.4   24.2   292   10.9 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   12 05 09.9   +05 02 26     1.861    2.323  105.3   24.1   292   10.9 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   12 05 46.1   +05 02 20     1.850    2.324  106.2   24.0   292   10.9 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   12 06 20.9   +05 02 26     1.839    2.326  107.1   23.8   292   10.9 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   12 06 54.2   +05 02 43     1.828    2.328  108.0   23.7   292   10.9 
2025-01-09 00:00 UT   12 07 25.9   +05 03 11     1.817    2.329  108.8   23.6   292   10.9 
2025-01-10 00:00 UT   12 07 56.2   +05 03 51     1.807    2.331  109.7   23.4   292   10.8 
2025-01-11 00:00 UT   12 08 24.9   +05 04 42     1.796    2.332  110.7   23.2   291   10.8 
2025-01-12 00:00 UT   12 08 52.1   +05 05 45     1.786    2.334  111.6   23.1   291   10.8 
2025-01-13 00:00 UT   12 09 17.7   +05 06 60     1.775    2.336  112.5   22.9   291   10.8 
2025-01-14 00:00 UT   12 09 41.7   +05 08 26     1.765    2.337  113.4   22.7   291   10.8 
2025-01-15 00:00 UT   12 10 04.1   +05 10 05     1.755    2.339  114.4   22.5   291   10.8 
2025-01-16 00:00 UT   12 10 24.9   +05 11 55     1.744    2.340  115.3   22.3   291   10.7 
2025-01-17 00:00 UT   12 10 44.0   +05 13 57     1.734    2.342  116.2   22.1   291   10.7 
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   12 11 01.4   +05 16 12     1.724    2.343  117.2   21.9   290   10.7 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   12 11 17.2   +05 18 38     1.714    2.345  118.2   21.7   290   10.7 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   12 11 31.2   +05 21 17     1.704    2.346  119.1   21.5   290   10.7 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   12 11 43.5   +05 24 08     1.694    2.348  120.1   21.3   290   10.6 

    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.