(103) Hera
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	22 Nov 2024	11.4	2.704 AU	1.723 AU	04h01m	+12°15'	171.7°	3.0°
Today	23 Nov 2024	11.4	2.704 AU	1.723 AU	04h01m	+12°14'	171.8°	3.0°

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)                : 0.0795605
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7035426
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.41804
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 136.03728
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 189.96114
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 77.41203
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 145.95480
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.93586
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.45            
        

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
2024-11-23 00:00 UT   04 01 27.1   +12 14 38     1.723    2.704  171.8    3.0   349   11.4 
2024-11-23 09:33 UT   04 01 04.6   +12 13 48     1.724    2.705  171.7    3.0   352   11.4 
2024-11-24 00:00 UT   04 00 30.6   +12 12 32     1.724    2.705  171.7    3.0   358   11.4 
2024-11-25 00:00 UT   03 59 34.2   +12 10 30     1.726    2.706  171.4    3.1     6   11.4 
2024-11-26 00:00 UT   03 58 38.0   +12 08 33     1.728    2.707  171.0    3.3    13   11.4 
2024-11-27 00:00 UT   03 57 41.9   +12 06 40     1.730    2.708  170.4    3.5    20   11.5 
2024-11-28 00:00 UT   03 56 46.1   +12 04 53     1.732    2.708  169.7    3.7    26   11.5 
2024-11-29 00:00 UT   03 55 50.7   +12 03 10     1.734    2.709  168.9    4.0    31   11.5 
2024-11-30 00:00 UT   03 54 55.7   +12 01 33     1.737    2.710  168.1    4.3    35   11.5 
2024-12-01 00:00 UT   03 54 01.2   +12 00 02     1.741    2.711  167.1    4.6    39   11.5 
2024-12-02 00:00 UT   03 53 07.2   +11 58 36     1.744    2.712  166.2    5.0    43   11.6 
2024-12-03 00:00 UT   03 52 13.8   +11 57 16     1.748    2.713  165.2    5.3    45   11.6 
2024-12-04 00:00 UT   03 51 21.1   +11 56 02     1.752    2.713  164.1    5.7    48   11.6 
2024-12-05 00:00 UT   03 50 29.2   +11 54 53     1.756    2.714  163.1    6.1    50   11.6 
2024-12-06 00:00 UT   03 49 38.0   +11 53 51     1.761    2.715  162.0    6.4    52   11.7 
2024-12-07 00:00 UT   03 48 47.7   +11 52 56     1.766    2.716  160.9    6.8    54   11.7 
2024-12-08 00:00 UT   03 47 58.3   +11 52 06     1.771    2.717  159.8    7.2    55   11.7 
2024-12-09 00:00 UT   03 47 09.9   +11 51 24     1.776    2.717  158.7    7.6    56   11.7 
2024-12-10 00:00 UT   03 46 22.4   +11 50 47     1.782    2.718  157.6    7.9    58   11.8 
2024-12-11 00:00 UT   03 45 36.1   +11 50 18     1.788    2.719  156.5    8.3    59   11.8 
2024-12-12 00:00 UT   03 44 50.8   +11 49 54     1.794    2.720  155.4    8.7    60   11.8 
2024-12-13 00:00 UT   03 44 06.6   +11 49 38     1.800    2.721  154.3    9.0    61   11.8 
2024-12-14 00:00 UT   03 43 23.7   +11 49 28     1.807    2.722  153.1    9.4    61   11.9 
2024-12-15 00:00 UT   03 42 42.0   +11 49 26     1.814    2.722  152.0    9.8    62   11.9 
2024-12-16 00:00 UT   03 42 01.5   +11 49 30     1.821    2.723  150.9   10.1    63   11.9 
2024-12-17 00:00 UT   03 41 22.3   +11 49 40     1.828    2.724  149.8   10.5    64   11.9 
2024-12-18 00:00 UT   03 40 44.4   +11 49 58     1.836    2.725  148.6   10.8    64   11.9 
2024-12-19 00:00 UT   03 40 07.8   +11 50 22     1.844    2.726  147.5   11.2    65   12.0 
2024-12-20 00:00 UT   03 39 32.7   +11 50 54     1.852    2.727  146.4   11.5    65   12.0 
2024-12-21 00:00 UT   03 38 58.9   +11 51 32     1.860    2.727  145.3   11.8    66   12.0 
2024-12-22 00:00 UT   03 38 26.6   +11 52 17     1.869    2.728  144.2   12.2    66   12.0 
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   03 37 55.7   +11 53 09     1.878    2.729  143.1   12.5    67   12.1 

    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.