(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	17 Aug 2026	14.8	3.220 AU	4.221 AU	10h08m	+09°07'	7.5°	2.3°
Opposition	25 Mar 2027	13.6	3.433 AU	2.436 AU	12h15m	-02°59'	178.7°	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 Galatea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2375007
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7815637
            i (Inclination)                 : 4.07294
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 196.97572
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 175.02331
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 106.71624
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 192.01154
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.35303
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.64            
        

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
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   10 08 47.0   +09 07 59     4.221    3.220    7.5    2.3   127   14.8 
2026-08-17 05:20 UT   10 09 04.7   +09 06 26     4.222    3.220    7.3    2.3   128   14.8 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   10 10 06.5   +09 01 00     4.224    3.221    6.9    2.2   129   14.8 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   10 11 26.0   +08 54 00     4.227    3.223    6.3    2.0   130   14.8 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   10 12 45.4   +08 46 58     4.230    3.225    5.7    1.8   133   14.8 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   10 14 04.6   +08 39 55     4.232    3.226    5.2    1.6   135   14.8 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   10 15 23.8   +08 32 51     4.235    3.228    4.6    1.4   138   14.8 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   10 16 42.9   +08 25 45     4.237    3.229    4.1    1.3   142   14.8 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   10 18 01.9   +08 18 38     4.239    3.231    3.5    1.1   147   14.7 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   10 19 20.8   +08 11 30     4.241    3.232    3.1    1.0   154   14.7 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   10 20 39.6   +08 04 21     4.243    3.234    2.6    0.8   164   14.7 
2026-08-27 00:00 UT   10 21 58.3   +07 57 10     4.245    3.235    2.3    0.7   176   14.7 
2026-08-28 00:00 UT   10 23 16.9   +07 49 58     4.246    3.237    2.1    0.7   191   14.7 
2026-08-29 00:00 UT   10 24 35.4   +07 42 45     4.247    3.238    2.1    0.7   208   14.7 
2026-08-30 00:00 UT   10 25 53.8   +07 35 32     4.249    3.240    2.2    0.7   224   14.7 
2026-08-31 00:00 UT   10 27 12.1   +07 28 16     4.250    3.241    2.5    0.8   237   14.7 
2026-09-01 00:00 UT   10 28 30.3   +07 21 00     4.250    3.243    2.9    0.9   247   14.7 
2026-09-02 00:00 UT   10 29 48.4   +07 13 43     4.251    3.244    3.4    1.1   255   14.8 
2026-09-03 00:00 UT   10 31 06.3   +07 06 25     4.252    3.246    3.9    1.2   260   14.8 
2026-09-04 00:00 UT   10 32 24.2   +06 59 07     4.252    3.247    4.5    1.4   265   14.8 
2026-09-05 00:00 UT   10 33 41.9   +06 51 47     4.252    3.249    5.0    1.6   268   14.8 
2026-09-06 00:00 UT   10 34 59.5   +06 44 26     4.252    3.250    5.6    1.7   271   14.8 
2026-09-07 00:00 UT   10 36 17.0   +06 37 05     4.252    3.252    6.2    1.9   273   14.8 
2026-09-08 00:00 UT   10 37 34.3   +06 29 43     4.252    3.253    6.8    2.1   275   14.8 
2026-09-09 00:00 UT   10 38 51.6   +06 22 20     4.251    3.255    7.4    2.3   276   14.9 
2026-09-10 00:00 UT   10 40 08.7   +06 14 56     4.251    3.256    8.0    2.5   277   14.9 

    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.