(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	9 Jul 2026	8.9	2.263 AU	1.247 AU	19h15m	-21°37'	179.2°	0.4°
Today	11 Jul 2026	9.0	2.261 AU	1.244 AU	19h13m	-21°45'	178.5°	0.7°

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)                : 0.1561964
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2015606
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89032
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84335
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.40831
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 259.26212
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.32953
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67789
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   19 13 31.4   -21 45 36     1.244    2.261  178.5    0.7   107    9.0 
2026-07-11 13:22 UT   19 12 53.8   -21 48 28     1.244    2.260  177.9    0.9    98    9.0 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   19 12 24.0   -21 50 44     1.243    2.259  177.4    1.2    95    9.0 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   19 11 16.5   -21 55 52     1.242    2.257  176.2    1.7    90    9.1 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   19 10 09.1   -22 00 58     1.241    2.255  175.0    2.3    88    9.1 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   19 09 01.8   -22 06 02     1.241    2.254  173.8    2.8    87    9.1 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   19 07 54.7   -22 11 05     1.240    2.252  172.5    3.4    86    9.2 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   19 06 47.9   -22 16 06     1.240    2.250  171.3    3.9    85    9.2 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   19 05 41.5   -22 21 05     1.240    2.248  170.1    4.5    85    9.2 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   19 04 35.7   -22 26 01     1.241    2.247  168.9    5.0    85    9.3 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   19 03 30.4   -22 30 54     1.242    2.245  167.7    5.5    84    9.3 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   19 02 25.8   -22 35 44     1.243    2.243  166.5    6.1    84    9.3 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   19 01 22.0   -22 40 31     1.244    2.241  165.3    6.6    84    9.3 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   19 00 19.1   -22 45 15     1.245    2.240  164.1    7.2    84    9.4 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   18 59 17.2   -22 49 55     1.247    2.238  162.9    7.7    84    9.4 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   18 58 16.2   -22 54 31     1.249    2.236  161.7    8.2    84    9.4 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   18 57 16.4   -22 59 04     1.251    2.234  160.5    8.7    84    9.4 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   18 56 17.8   -23 03 32     1.254    2.233  159.3    9.3    84    9.5 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   18 55 20.4   -23 07 57     1.256    2.231  158.1    9.8    84    9.5 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   18 54 24.4   -23 12 17     1.259    2.229  156.9   10.3    84    9.5 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   18 53 29.8   -23 16 34     1.262    2.227  155.8   10.8    84    9.5 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   18 52 36.6   -23 20 45     1.265    2.225  154.6   11.3    84    9.6 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   18 51 44.9   -23 24 53     1.269    2.224  153.4   11.8    84    9.6 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   18 50 54.9   -23 28 56     1.273    2.222  152.3   12.3    84    9.6 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   18 50 06.5   -23 32 55     1.277    2.220  151.1   12.7    84    9.6 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   18 49 19.8   -23 36 49     1.281    2.218  150.0   13.2    84    9.6 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   18 48 34.8   -23 40 38     1.285    2.216  148.9   13.7    84    9.7 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   18 47 51.7   -23 44 23     1.290    2.215  147.7   14.2    84    9.7 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   18 47 10.4   -23 48 04     1.295    2.213  146.6   14.6    84    9.7 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   18 46 31.0   -23 51 40     1.299    2.211  145.5   15.1    84    9.7 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   18 45 53.6   -23 55 11     1.305    2.209  144.4   15.5    84    9.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   18 45 18.1   -23 58 38     1.310    2.207  143.3   15.9    84    9.8 

    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.