(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Mar 2026	12.0	3.253 AU	4.210 AU	23h54m	-12°55'	14.1°	4.3°
Opposition	16 Oct 2026	10.8	3.230 AU	2.290 AU	02h02m	-12°20'	156.8°	7.0°

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 Herculina are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1801823
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7700338
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29930
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.41125
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.65843
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 136.49502
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.53220
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84766
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   23 54 15.2   -12 55 06     4.210    3.253   14.1    4.3   194   12.0 
2026-03-23 00:09 UT   23 54 15.7   -12 55 03     4.210    3.253   14.1    4.3   194   12.0 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   23 55 35.8   -12 47 42     4.209    3.253   14.5    4.4   196   12.0 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   23 56 56.4   -12 40 21     4.207    3.253   14.9    4.5   197   12.0 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   23 58 16.9   -12 33 01     4.205    3.254   15.4    4.7   199   12.0 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   23 59 37.3   -12 25 42     4.203    3.254   15.8    4.8   201   12.0 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   00 00 57.6   -12 18 26     4.201    3.255   16.3    4.9   202   12.0 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   00 02 17.8   -12 11 11     4.198    3.255   16.7    5.1   204   12.0 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   00 03 37.9   -12 03 58     4.196    3.255   17.2    5.2   205   12.0 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   00 04 57.9   -11 56 46     4.193    3.256   17.7    5.4   207   12.0 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   00 06 17.8   -11 49 37     4.190    3.256   18.2    5.5   208   12.0 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   00 07 37.7   -11 42 29     4.187    3.256   18.7    5.7   209   12.0 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   00 08 57.4   -11 35 24     4.184    3.257   19.2    5.8   210   12.1 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   00 10 17.0   -11 28 20     4.181    3.257   19.7    6.0   211   12.1 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   00 11 36.5   -11 21 18     4.177    3.257   20.3    6.1   212   12.1 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   00 12 55.9   -11 14 19     4.174    3.258   20.8    6.3   213   12.1 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   00 14 15.2   -11 07 21     4.170    3.258   21.3    6.4   214   12.1 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   00 15 34.4   -11 00 26     4.166    3.258   21.9    6.6   215   12.1 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   00 16 53.5   -10 53 33     4.162    3.259   22.4    6.7   216   12.1 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   00 18 12.4   -10 46 42     4.158    3.259   23.0    6.9   217   12.1 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   00 19 31.2   -10 39 54     4.153    3.259   23.5    7.1   218   12.1 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   00 20 50.0   -10 33 08     4.149    3.260   24.1    7.2   218   12.1 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   00 22 08.5   -10 26 24     4.144    3.260   24.7    7.4   219   12.1 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   00 23 27.0   -10 19 43     4.139    3.260   25.2    7.5   220   12.1 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   00 24 45.3   -10 13 04     4.134    3.261   25.8    7.7   221   12.1 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   00 26 03.5   -10 06 28     4.129    3.261   26.4    7.9   221   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.