(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	12 Mar 2025	9.7	2.419 AU	1.432 AU	11h45m	+11°04'	171.2°	3.6°
Today	11 May 2025	11.0	2.485 AU	1.894 AU	11h15m	+12°58'	114.2°	21.8°

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 Flora are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1564763
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2010413
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89030
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84544
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.42156
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 138.54189
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.34493
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67751
            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
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   11 15 04.1   +12 58 08     1.894    2.485  114.2   21.8   117   11.0 
2025-05-11 04:40 UT   11 15 06.7   +12 57 22     1.897    2.485  114.0   21.8   117   11.0 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   11 15 18.2   +12 54 08     1.907    2.486  113.3   21.9   116   11.0 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   11 15 33.8   +12 49 59     1.919    2.486  112.4   22.1   116   11.1 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   11 15 50.8   +12 45 42     1.932    2.487  111.6   22.2   116   11.1 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   11 16 09.2   +12 41 16     1.944    2.488  110.7   22.3   116   11.1 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   11 16 29.0   +12 36 42     1.957    2.489  109.8   22.5   116   11.1 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   11 16 50.1   +12 31 60     1.970    2.490  109.0   22.6   116   11.1 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   11 17 12.6   +12 27 10     1.983    2.491  108.2   22.7   116   11.2 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   11 17 36.4   +12 22 12     1.996    2.492  107.3   22.8   115   11.2 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   11 18 01.5   +12 17 07     2.009    2.493  106.5   22.9   115   11.2 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   11 18 27.9   +12 11 54     2.022    2.493  105.7   23.0   115   11.2 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   11 18 55.5   +12 06 33     2.035    2.494  104.9   23.1   115   11.2 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   11 19 24.4   +12 01 06     2.048    2.495  104.1   23.2   115   11.3 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   11 19 54.5   +11 55 31     2.061    2.496  103.3   23.3   115   11.3 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   11 20 25.9   +11 49 50     2.074    2.497  102.5   23.3   115   11.3 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   11 20 58.4   +11 44 01     2.087    2.498  101.7   23.4   115   11.3 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   11 21 32.1   +11 38 06     2.100    2.498  100.9   23.5   115   11.3 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   11 22 07.0   +11 32 04     2.114    2.499  100.1   23.5   114   11.3 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   11 22 43.0   +11 25 55     2.127    2.500   99.3   23.6   114   11.3 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   11 23 20.1   +11 19 41     2.140    2.501   98.6   23.6   114   11.4 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   11 23 58.4   +11 13 20     2.154    2.502   97.8   23.7   114   11.4 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   11 24 37.7   +11 06 53     2.167    2.502   97.0   23.7   114   11.4 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   11 25 18.0   +11 00 20     2.180    2.503   96.3   23.7   114   11.4 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   11 25 59.4   +10 53 41     2.194    2.504   95.5   23.8   114   11.4 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   11 26 41.9   +10 46 57     2.207    2.505   94.8   23.8   114   11.4 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   11 27 25.3   +10 40 07     2.221    2.505   94.0   23.8   114   11.5 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   11 28 09.7   +10 33 12     2.234    2.506   93.3   23.8   114   11.5 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   11 28 55.0   +10 26 11     2.248    2.507   92.6   23.9   114   11.5 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   11 29 41.3   +10 19 05     2.261    2.508   91.8   23.9   114   11.5 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   11 30 28.5   +10 11 54     2.274    2.508   91.1   23.9   114   11.5 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   11 31 16.6   +10 04 39     2.288    2.509   90.4   23.9   113   11.5 

    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.