(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Jul 2024	11.0	2.034 AU	3.017 AU	07h31m	+21°22'	11.9°	5.9°
Opposition	12 Mar 2025	9.7	2.420 AU	1.433 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)                : 0.1566916
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2017044
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.88936
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84972
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.53743
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 17.69819
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.46558
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67342
            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
2024-07-26 00:00 UT   07 31 56.1   +21 22 38     3.017    2.034   11.9    5.9   277   11.0 
2024-07-26 23:41 UT   07 34 13.6   +21 18 58     3.016    2.035   12.3    6.1   278   11.0 
2024-07-27 00:00 UT   07 34 15.4   +21 18 55     3.016    2.035   12.3    6.1   278   11.0 
2024-07-28 00:00 UT   07 36 34.4   +21 15 05     3.015    2.037   12.7    6.3   278   11.0 
2024-07-29 00:00 UT   07 38 53.1   +21 11 08     3.015    2.039   13.1    6.5   278   11.0 
2024-07-30 00:00 UT   07 41 11.4   +21 07 04     3.014    2.040   13.5    6.7   279   11.1 
2024-07-31 00:00 UT   07 43 29.4   +21 02 54     3.013    2.042   13.9    6.9   279   11.1 
2024-08-01 00:00 UT   07 45 47.1   +20 58 38     3.012    2.044   14.3    7.1   279   11.1 
2024-08-02 00:00 UT   07 48 04.5   +20 54 15     3.011    2.046   14.8    7.3   280   11.1 
2024-08-03 00:00 UT   07 50 21.5   +20 49 45     3.009    2.047   15.2    7.5   280   11.1 
2024-08-04 00:00 UT   07 52 38.2   +20 45 10     3.008    2.049   15.6    7.6   280   11.1 
2024-08-05 00:00 UT   07 54 54.6   +20 40 28     3.007    2.051   16.0    7.8   281   11.1 
2024-08-06 00:00 UT   07 57 10.6   +20 35 40     3.005    2.053   16.4    8.0   281   11.1 
2024-08-07 00:00 UT   07 59 26.2   +20 30 46     3.004    2.054   16.9    8.2   281   11.1 
2024-08-08 00:00 UT   08 01 41.5   +20 25 47     3.002    2.056   17.3    8.4   281   11.1 
2024-08-09 00:00 UT   08 03 56.4   +20 20 41     3.001    2.058   17.7    8.6   282   11.2 
2024-08-10 00:00 UT   08 06 10.9   +20 15 30     2.999    2.060   18.1    8.8   282   11.2 

    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.