(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	8 Oct 2026	10.8	3.235 AU	2.305 AU	02h09m	-11°36'	154.4°	7.7°
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)                : 0.1803914
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7695624
            i (Inclination)                 : 16.29891
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 107.40837
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 76.65936
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 179.25146
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 183.53031
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.84735
            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
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   02 09 04.4   -11 36 34     2.305    3.235  154.4    7.7   311   10.8 
2026-10-08 07:46 UT   02 08 50.0   -11 38 24     2.304    3.235  154.5    7.6   312   10.8 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   02 08 19.5   -11 42 12     2.302    3.234  154.8    7.5   314   10.8 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   02 07 33.8   -11 47 44     2.299    3.234  155.3    7.4   317   10.8 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   02 06 47.5   -11 53 07     2.297    3.233  155.6    7.3   319   10.8 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   02 06 00.6   -11 58 23     2.295    3.232  156.0    7.2   322   10.8 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   02 05 13.2   -12 03 31     2.293    3.232  156.2    7.1   325   10.8 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   02 04 25.3   -12 08 29     2.292    3.231  156.5    7.1   328   10.8 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   02 03 36.9   -12 13 19     2.291    3.231  156.6    7.0   331   10.8 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   02 02 48.1   -12 17 59     2.290    3.230  156.7    7.0   334   10.8 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   02 01 58.9   -12 22 29     2.289    3.229  156.8    7.0   337   10.8 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   02 01 09.4   -12 26 50     2.289    3.229  156.8    7.0   340   10.8 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   02 00 19.7   -12 31 00     2.289    3.228  156.7    7.0   343   10.8 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   01 59 29.7   -12 35 00     2.289    3.228  156.6    7.0   346   10.8 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   01 58 39.6   -12 38 49     2.290    3.227  156.5    7.1   349   10.8 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   01 57 49.3   -12 42 28     2.290    3.226  156.2    7.1   352   10.8 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   01 56 59.0   -12 45 55     2.291    3.226  155.9    7.2   355   10.8 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   01 56 08.6   -12 49 10     2.293    3.225  155.6    7.3   358   10.8 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   01 55 18.3   -12 52 14     2.294    3.224  155.2    7.4     1   10.8 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   01 54 28.0   -12 55 07     2.296    3.224  154.8    7.5     3   10.8 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   01 53 37.8   -12 57 47     2.298    3.223  154.3    7.7     6   10.8 
2026-10-28 00:00 UT   01 52 47.8   -13 00 15     2.301    3.222  153.8    7.8     8   10.8 
2026-10-29 00:00 UT   01 51 58.0   -13 02 31     2.303    3.222  153.3    8.0    11   10.8 
2026-10-30 00:00 UT   01 51 08.5   -13 04 35     2.306    3.221  152.7    8.1    13   10.8 
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   01 50 19.2   -13 06 26     2.309    3.220  152.0    8.3    15   10.9 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   01 49 30.3   -13 08 05     2.313    3.219  151.4    8.5    17   10.9 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   01 48 41.7   -13 09 31     2.317    3.219  150.7    8.7    19   10.9 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   01 47 53.6   -13 10 45     2.321    3.218  150.0    8.9    21   10.9 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   01 47 06.0   -13 11 45     2.325    3.217  149.2    9.1    23   10.9 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   01 46 18.9   -13 12 32     2.329    3.217  148.5    9.3    25   10.9 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   01 45 32.3   -13 13 07     2.334    3.216  147.7    9.5    27   10.9 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   01 44 46.4   -13 13 28     2.339    3.215  146.9    9.7    28   10.9 

    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.