(103) Hera
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today25 Apr 202413.02.543 AU3.482 AU01h09m+03°52'17.8°6.9°
Opposition22 Nov 202411.42.704 AU1.722 AU04h01m+12°15'171.7°3.0°
(103) Hera - 2024-04-25
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 Hera are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0791087
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7014215
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.41879
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 136.06741
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 189.44275
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 349.13715
            Epoch                           : 2023 Sep 13

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 145.46872
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.88773
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.44            
        

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
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   01 09 24.7   +03 52 47     3.482    2.543   17.8    6.9   238   13.0 
2024-04-25 15:02 UT   01 10 28.1   +03 58 44     3.481    2.543   18.1    7.1   238   13.0 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   01 11 05.9   +04 02 16     3.479    2.544   18.3    7.1   238   13.0 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   01 12 47.0   +04 11 43     3.476    2.544   18.8    7.3   238   13.1 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   01 14 28.0   +04 21 07     3.473    2.545   19.3    7.5   238   13.1 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   01 16 09.0   +04 30 28     3.470    2.545   19.8    7.7   239   13.1 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   01 17 49.9   +04 39 47     3.466    2.546   20.3    7.9   239   13.1 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   01 19 30.7   +04 49 03     3.463    2.546   20.9    8.1   239   13.1 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   01 21 11.4   +04 58 17     3.459    2.547   21.4    8.3   240   13.1 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   01 22 52.1   +05 07 27     3.455    2.548   21.9    8.5   240   13.1 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   01 24 32.7   +05 16 35     3.451    2.548   22.4    8.7   240   13.1 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   01 26 13.3   +05 25 41     3.447    2.549   22.9    8.9   240   13.1 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   01 27 53.7   +05 34 43     3.443    2.550   23.5    9.1   241   13.1 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   01 29 34.1   +05 43 42     3.439    2.550   24.0    9.3   241   13.1 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   01 31 14.3   +05 52 38     3.435    2.551   24.5    9.4   241   13.1 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   01 32 54.5   +06 01 31     3.430    2.551   25.0    9.6   241   13.1 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   01 34 34.6   +06 10 22     3.426    2.552   25.6    9.8   241   13.1 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   01 36 14.6   +06 19 08     3.421    2.553   26.1   10.0   242   13.1 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   01 37 54.5   +06 27 52     3.416    2.553   26.6   10.2   242   13.1 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   01 39 34.3   +06 36 32     3.411    2.554   27.1   10.4   242   13.2 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   01 41 14.0   +06 45 09     3.406    2.555   27.7   10.6   242   13.2 


    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.