(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	26 Mar 2025	9.9	2.436 AU	1.470 AU	11h32m	+12°35'	161.3°	7.5°

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
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   11 32 35.9   +12 35 36     1.470    2.436  161.3    7.5   141    9.9 
2025-03-26 10:35 UT   11 32 11.6   +12 38 01     1.472    2.437  160.8    7.7   140    9.9 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   11 31 41.1   +12 41 00     1.475    2.437  160.2    8.0   139   10.0 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   11 30 47.3   +12 46 11     1.480    2.438  159.1    8.4   138   10.0 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   11 29 54.4   +12 51 10     1.485    2.440  158.0    8.8   136   10.0 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   11 29 02.5   +12 55 55     1.490    2.441  156.9    9.2   135   10.0 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   11 28 11.8   +13 00 27     1.496    2.442  155.8    9.7   134   10.1 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   11 27 22.2   +13 04 45     1.502    2.443  154.7   10.1   133   10.1 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   11 26 33.7   +13 08 49     1.508    2.444  153.6   10.5   132   10.1 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   11 25 46.6   +13 12 40     1.515    2.445  152.5   10.9   131   10.1 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   11 25 00.7   +13 16 17     1.522    2.447  151.3   11.3   130   10.2 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   11 24 16.2   +13 19 40     1.528    2.448  150.2   11.7   129   10.2 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   11 23 33.0   +13 22 49     1.536    2.449  149.1   12.1   128   10.2 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   11 22 51.3   +13 25 43     1.543    2.450  148.0   12.5   128   10.3 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   11 22 11.0   +13 28 24     1.551    2.451  146.9   12.9   127   10.3 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   11 21 32.2   +13 30 51     1.558    2.452  145.8   13.3   126   10.3 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   11 20 54.9   +13 33 05     1.566    2.453  144.7   13.6   126   10.3 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   11 20 19.1   +13 35 04     1.575    2.454  143.6   14.0   125   10.4 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   11 19 44.9   +13 36 50     1.583    2.456  142.6   14.4   125   10.4 
2025-04-13 00:00 UT   11 19 12.3   +13 38 22     1.592    2.457  141.5   14.7   124   10.4 
2025-04-14 00:00 UT   11 18 41.2   +13 39 40     1.600    2.458  140.4   15.1   124   10.4 
2025-04-15 00:00 UT   11 18 11.8   +13 40 45     1.609    2.459  139.3   15.4   123   10.5 
2025-04-16 00:00 UT   11 17 44.0   +13 41 37     1.618    2.460  138.3   15.7   123   10.5 
2025-04-17 00:00 UT   11 17 17.8   +13 42 16     1.628    2.461  137.2   16.1   122   10.5 
2025-04-18 00:00 UT   11 16 53.3   +13 42 41     1.637    2.462  136.2   16.4   122   10.5 
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   11 16 30.4   +13 42 54     1.647    2.463  135.2   16.7   122   10.6 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   11 16 09.1   +13 42 53     1.657    2.464  134.1   17.0   121   10.6 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   11 15 49.6   +13 42 41     1.667    2.465  133.1   17.3   121   10.6 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   11 15 31.7   +13 42 15     1.677    2.466  132.1   17.6   121   10.6 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   11 15 15.4   +13 41 37     1.687    2.467  131.1   17.9   120   10.6 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   11 15 00.9   +13 40 47     1.698    2.468  130.1   18.2   120   10.7 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   11 14 48.0   +13 39 45     1.708    2.469  129.1   18.4   120   10.7 

    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.