(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Jun 2025	10.8	2.974 AU	2.200 AU	21h44m	-21°23'	131.6°	14.8°
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
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   21 44 57.7   -21 23 59     2.200    2.974  131.6   14.8   257   10.8 
2025-06-25 07:12 UT   21 44 54.9   -21 26 06     2.197    2.974  131.9   14.7   257   10.8 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   21 44 47.7   -21 31 06     2.191    2.975  132.6   14.6   257   10.8 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   21 44 36.2   -21 38 20     2.183    2.977  133.6   14.3   258   10.8 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   21 44 23.3   -21 45 41     2.175    2.978  134.6   14.1   258   10.8 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   21 44 08.9   -21 53 09     2.167    2.980  135.7   13.8   259   10.8 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   21 43 53.2   -22 00 44     2.159    2.982  136.7   13.5   259   10.7 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   21 43 36.0   -22 08 25     2.152    2.983  137.7   13.3   259   10.7 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   21 43 17.4   -22 16 13     2.144    2.985  138.7   13.0   260   10.7 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   21 42 57.4   -22 24 07     2.137    2.986  139.8   12.7   260   10.7 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   21 42 36.0   -22 32 06     2.130    2.988  140.8   12.4   261   10.7 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   21 42 13.3   -22 40 11     2.123    2.989  141.8   12.1   261   10.7 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   21 41 49.2   -22 48 22     2.117    2.991  142.9   11.8   262   10.6 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   21 41 23.7   -22 56 37     2.110    2.992  143.9   11.5   263   10.6 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   21 40 56.9   -23 04 57     2.104    2.994  144.9   11.3   263   10.6 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   21 40 28.8   -23 13 21     2.098    2.995  146.0   10.9   264   10.6 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   21 39 59.3   -23 21 50     2.093    2.997  147.0   10.6   265   10.6 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   21 39 28.6   -23 30 22     2.087    2.999  148.1   10.3   265   10.6 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   21 38 56.6   -23 38 57     2.082    3.000  149.1   10.0   266   10.5 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   21 38 23.4   -23 47 35     2.077    3.002  150.1    9.7   267   10.5 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   21 37 49.0   -23 56 16     2.072    3.003  151.2    9.4   268   10.5 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   21 37 13.3   -24 04 60     2.068    3.005  152.2    9.1   269   10.5 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   21 36 36.5   -24 13 45     2.064    3.006  153.2    8.8   270   10.5 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   21 35 58.5   -24 22 32     2.060    3.008  154.3    8.4   271   10.5 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   21 35 19.4   -24 31 20     2.056    3.009  155.3    8.1   273   10.4 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   21 34 39.2   -24 40 09     2.052    3.011  156.3    7.8   274   10.4 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   21 33 58.0   -24 48 58     2.049    3.012  157.3    7.5   275   10.4 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   21 33 15.8   -24 57 47     2.046    3.014  158.3    7.2   277   10.4 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   21 32 32.5   -25 06 35     2.043    3.015  159.3    6.8   279   10.4 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   21 31 48.3   -25 15 23     2.041    3.017  160.2    6.5   281   10.4 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   21 31 03.2   -25 24 09     2.039    3.018  161.2    6.2   283   10.3 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   21 30 17.3   -25 32 54     2.037    3.020  162.1    5.9   285   10.3 

    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.