(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2025	11.5	2.861 AU	2.956 AU	21h08m	-18°27'	74.7°	19.8°
Opposition	6 Aug 2025	10.2	3.038 AU	2.036 AU	21h19m	-27°16'	168.9°	3.7°

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 Herculina are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1800323
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7704091
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29901
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.41084
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.68607
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 93.72416
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.56048
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84924
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61            
        

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
2025-04-19 00:00 UT   21 08 38.2   -18 27 24     2.956    2.861   74.7   19.8   253   11.5 
2025-04-19 05:01 UT   21 08 52.0   -18 27 13     2.954    2.861   74.9   19.8   252   11.5 
2025-04-20 00:00 UT   21 09 43.9   -18 26 33     2.944    2.863   75.5   19.9   252   11.5 
2025-04-21 00:00 UT   21 10 48.8   -18 25 45     2.933    2.864   76.2   19.9   252   11.5 
2025-04-22 00:00 UT   21 11 52.9   -18 25 01     2.921    2.866   76.9   20.0   252   11.5 
2025-04-23 00:00 UT   21 12 56.3   -18 24 22     2.909    2.868   77.7   20.0   252   11.5 
2025-04-24 00:00 UT   21 13 58.8   -18 23 47     2.898    2.870   78.4   20.1   252   11.5 
2025-04-25 00:00 UT   21 15 00.6   -18 23 16     2.886    2.871   79.1   20.1   252   11.5 
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   21 16 01.5   -18 22 50     2.874    2.873   79.9   20.2   252   11.5 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   21 17 01.6   -18 22 29     2.862    2.875   80.6   20.2   252   11.5 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   21 18 00.8   -18 22 13     2.850    2.877   81.4   20.2   252   11.5 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   21 18 59.2   -18 22 01     2.838    2.878   82.1   20.3   252   11.5 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   21 19 56.7   -18 21 55     2.826    2.880   82.9   20.3   252   11.5 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   21 20 53.4   -18 21 54     2.814    2.882   83.6   20.3   252   11.5 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   21 21 49.1   -18 21 58     2.802    2.884   84.4   20.4   252   11.5 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   21 22 44.0   -18 22 08     2.790    2.885   85.2   20.4   252   11.5 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   21 23 38.0   -18 22 23     2.778    2.887   85.9   20.4   252   11.5 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   21 24 31.0   -18 22 44     2.766    2.889   86.7   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   21 25 23.2   -18 23 11     2.754    2.891   87.5   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   21 26 14.4   -18 23 44     2.742    2.892   88.2   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   21 27 04.6   -18 24 23     2.730    2.894   89.0   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   21 27 54.0   -18 25 07     2.717    2.896   89.8   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   21 28 42.3   -18 25 59     2.705    2.898   90.6   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   21 29 29.7   -18 26 56     2.693    2.899   91.4   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   21 30 16.1   -18 27 60     2.681    2.901   92.2   20.4   252   11.4 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   21 31 01.5   -18 29 10     2.669    2.903   93.0   20.3   252   11.4 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   21 31 45.9   -18 30 28     2.657    2.904   93.8   20.3   252   11.4 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   21 32 29.3   -18 31 52     2.645    2.906   94.6   20.3   252   11.4 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   21 33 11.7   -18 33 23     2.633    2.908   95.4   20.3   252   11.3 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   21 33 53.0   -18 35 00     2.621    2.910   96.2   20.2   252   11.3 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   21 34 33.3   -18 36 46     2.609    2.911   97.0   20.2   252   11.3 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   21 35 12.5   -18 38 38     2.597    2.913   97.9   20.1   252   11.3 

    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.