(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Jan 2025	11.1	2.664 AU	3.635 AU	18h22m	-20°13'	7.8°	2.9°
Opposition	6 Aug 2025	10.2	3.037 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)                : 0.1798087
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7701891
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29752
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.41613
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.70893
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 8.22162
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.58958
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84933
            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
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   18 22 53.3   -20 13 43     3.635    2.664    7.8    2.9   291   11.1 
2025-01-03 01:36 UT   18 23 00.7   -20 13 50     3.635    2.664    7.8    2.9   291   11.1 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   18 24 44.2   -20 15 14     3.635    2.666    8.3    3.1   289   11.2 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   18 26 34.9   -20 16 40     3.635    2.668    8.8    3.2   287   11.2 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   18 28 25.5   -20 18 01     3.635    2.670    9.4    3.4   285   11.2 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   18 30 15.9   -20 19 16     3.635    2.672    9.9    3.6   284   11.2 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   18 32 06.2   -20 20 27     3.635    2.674   10.5    3.8   283   11.2 
2025-01-09 00:00 UT   18 33 56.3   -20 21 33     3.634    2.676   11.0    4.0   281   11.2 
2025-01-10 00:00 UT   18 35 46.3   -20 22 33     3.633    2.677   11.6    4.2   280   11.2 
2025-01-11 00:00 UT   18 37 36.1   -20 23 29     3.633    2.679   12.2    4.4   279   11.3 
2025-01-12 00:00 UT   18 39 25.7   -20 24 21     3.632    2.681   12.7    4.6   278   11.3 
2025-01-13 00:00 UT   18 41 15.1   -20 25 07     3.631    2.683   13.3    4.8   277   11.3 
2025-01-14 00:00 UT   18 43 04.4   -20 25 49     3.629    2.685   13.9    5.0   276   11.3 
2025-01-15 00:00 UT   18 44 53.4   -20 26 26     3.628    2.687   14.4    5.2   276   11.3 
2025-01-16 00:00 UT   18 46 42.3   -20 26 58     3.627    2.689   15.0    5.4   275   11.3 
2025-01-17 00:00 UT   18 48 31.0   -20 27 26     3.625    2.691   15.6    5.6   274   11.3 
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   18 50 19.4   -20 27 49     3.623    2.693   16.2    5.8   274   11.3 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   18 52 07.7   -20 28 08     3.621    2.694   16.8    6.0   273   11.3 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   18 53 55.8   -20 28 23     3.619    2.696   17.4    6.2   272   11.4 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   18 55 43.6   -20 28 33     3.617    2.698   17.9    6.5   272   11.4 
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   18 57 31.2   -20 28 39     3.615    2.700   18.5    6.7   271   11.4 

    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.