(74) Galatea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Oct 2026	15.2	3.300 AU	4.143 AU	11h19m	+02°16'	28.5°	8.3°
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
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   11 19 47.6   +02 16 58     4.143    3.300   28.5    8.3   290   15.2 
2026-10-12 12:05 UT   11 20 23.4   +02 13 16     4.140    3.301   28.8    8.4   290   15.2 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   11 20 58.6   +02 09 38     4.137    3.301   29.2    8.5   290   15.2 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   11 22 09.4   +02 02 18     4.130    3.303   29.8    8.6   290   15.2 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   11 23 19.9   +01 54 59     4.124    3.304   30.5    8.8   290   15.2 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   11 24 30.2   +01 47 41     4.117    3.305   31.2    9.0   290   15.2 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   11 25 40.2   +01 40 24     4.111    3.306   31.9    9.2   290   15.2 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   11 26 49.9   +01 33 08     4.104    3.308   32.5    9.3   290   15.2 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   11 27 59.4   +01 25 54     4.097    3.309   33.2    9.5   290   15.2 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   11 29 08.6   +01 18 40     4.090    3.310   33.9    9.7   290   15.2 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   11 30 17.5   +01 11 28     4.083    3.311   34.6    9.8   291   15.2 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   11 31 26.2   +01 04 17     4.075    3.313   35.3   10.0   291   15.2 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   11 32 34.6   +00 57 07     4.068    3.314   35.9   10.2   291   15.2 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   11 33 42.6   +00 49 59     4.060    3.315   36.6   10.3   291   15.2 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   11 34 50.4   +00 42 52     4.052    3.316   37.3   10.5   291   15.2 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   11 35 57.9   +00 35 47     4.044    3.317   38.0   10.6   291   15.2 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   11 37 05.1   +00 28 43     4.036    3.319   38.7   10.8   291   15.2 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   11 38 12.0   +00 21 40     4.027    3.320   39.4   11.0   291   15.2 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   11 39 18.6   +00 14 39     4.019    3.321   40.1   11.1   291   15.2 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   11 40 24.9   +00 07 40     4.010    3.322   40.8   11.3   291   15.2 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   11 41 30.8   +00 00 43     4.001    3.323   41.5   11.4   291   15.2 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   11 42 36.5   +00 06 13     3.993    3.325   42.2   11.6   291   15.2 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   11 43 41.8   +00 13 07     3.983    3.326   42.9   11.7   291   15.2 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   11 44 46.7   +00 19 59     3.974    3.327   43.6   11.9   291   15.2 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   11 45 51.3   +00 26 50     3.965    3.328   44.3   12.0   292   15.2 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   11 46 55.6   +00 33 38     3.955    3.329   45.0   12.2   292   15.2 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   11 47 59.5   +00 40 24     3.946    3.330   45.7   12.3   292   15.2 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   11 49 03.1   +00 47 08     3.936    3.331   46.4   12.5   292   15.2 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   11 50 06.3   +00 53 50     3.926    3.333   47.2   12.6   292   15.2 

    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.