(8) Flora
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 May 2026	10.9	2.367 AU	1.799 AU	19h38m	-18°42'	111.9°	23.3°
Opposition	9 Jul 2026	9.0	2.263 AU	1.247 AU	19h15m	-21°37'	179.2°	0.4°

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)                : 0.1563337
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.2013072
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.89033
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.84339
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 285.42673
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 198.90077
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.34807
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.67740
            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
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   19 38 17.7   -18 42 15     1.799    2.367  111.9   23.3   259   10.9 
2026-05-06 11:59 UT   19 38 34.4   -18 42 01     1.792    2.367  112.3   23.2   259   10.9 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   19 38 50.8   -18 41 48     1.786    2.366  112.7   23.2   259   10.8 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   19 39 22.4   -18 41 26     1.773    2.364  113.6   23.0   259   10.8 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   19 39 52.4   -18 41 08     1.760    2.363  114.4   22.9   259   10.8 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   19 40 20.9   -18 40 55     1.747    2.361  115.3   22.7   259   10.8 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   19 40 47.8   -18 40 48     1.734    2.360  116.1   22.6   259   10.8 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   19 41 13.2   -18 40 45     1.722    2.358  117.0   22.4   259   10.7 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   19 41 36.8   -18 40 48     1.709    2.357  117.9   22.3   259   10.7 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   19 41 58.9   -18 40 56     1.697    2.355  118.7   22.1   259   10.7 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   19 42 19.3   -18 41 10     1.684    2.354  119.6   21.9   259   10.7 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   19 42 38.0   -18 41 30     1.672    2.352  120.5   21.7   259   10.6 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   19 42 55.0   -18 41 56     1.660    2.351  121.4   21.5   258   10.6 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   19 43 10.2   -18 42 27     1.648    2.349  122.3   21.3   258   10.6 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   19 43 23.8   -18 43 05     1.636    2.348  123.2   21.1   258   10.6 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   19 43 35.5   -18 43 49     1.624    2.346  124.2   20.9   258   10.6 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   19 43 45.5   -18 44 40     1.612    2.345  125.1   20.7   258   10.5 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   19 43 53.7   -18 45 37     1.600    2.343  126.0   20.5   258   10.5 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   19 44 00.2   -18 46 40     1.589    2.342  126.9   20.2   258   10.5 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   19 44 04.8   -18 47 50     1.577    2.340  127.9   20.0   258   10.5 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   19 44 07.6   -18 49 07     1.566    2.338  128.8   19.7   258   10.4 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   19 44 08.5   -18 50 31     1.555    2.337  129.8   19.4   258   10.4 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   19 44 07.6   -18 52 01     1.544    2.335  130.8   19.2   258   10.4 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   19 44 04.9   -18 53 39     1.533    2.334  131.7   18.9   258   10.4 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   19 44 00.3   -18 55 23     1.523    2.332  132.7   18.6   258   10.3 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   19 43 53.8   -18 57 14     1.512    2.331  133.7   18.3   258   10.3 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   19 43 45.4   -18 59 13     1.502    2.329  134.7   18.0   258   10.3 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   19 43 35.1   -19 01 18     1.491    2.327  135.7   17.7   258   10.2 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   19 43 22.9   -19 03 31     1.481    2.326  136.7   17.4   258   10.2 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   19 43 08.8   -19 05 50     1.471    2.324  137.8   17.1   258   10.2 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   19 42 52.8   -19 08 17     1.461    2.323  138.8   16.7   258   10.2 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   19 42 34.9   -19 10 51     1.452    2.321  139.8   16.4   258   10.1 

    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.