(532) Herculina
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jul 2026	11.9	3.267 AU	3.195 AU	02h05m	-04°51'	85.0°	18.1°
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
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   02 05 23.2   -04 51 20     3.195    3.267   85.0   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-15 12:22 UT   02 05 46.8   -04 51 42     3.188    3.266   85.3   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   02 06 08.9   -04 52 05     3.181    3.266   85.7   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   02 06 53.8   -04 52 56     3.168    3.266   86.4   18.1   248   11.9 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   02 07 38.0   -04 53 54     3.154    3.266   87.2   18.1   249   11.9 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   02 08 21.4   -04 54 59     3.140    3.266   88.0   18.1   249   11.9 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   02 09 04.1   -04 56 11     3.127    3.266   88.7   18.1   249   11.9 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   02 09 46.0   -04 57 30     3.113    3.265   89.5   18.1   249   11.9 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   02 10 27.1   -04 58 57     3.099    3.265   90.2   18.1   250   11.9 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   02 11 07.4   -05 00 30     3.085    3.265   91.0   18.1   250   11.9 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   02 11 46.9   -05 02 10     3.072    3.265   91.8   18.1   250   11.9 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   02 12 25.6   -05 03 58     3.058    3.265   92.5   18.1   250   11.9 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   02 13 03.5   -05 05 53     3.044    3.264   93.3   18.1   251   11.8 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   02 13 40.5   -05 07 54     3.031    3.264   94.1   18.1   251   11.8 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   02 14 16.6   -05 10 03     3.017    3.264   94.9   18.1   251   11.8 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   02 14 51.9   -05 12 19     3.004    3.264   95.6   18.0   251   11.8 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   02 15 26.3   -05 14 42     2.990    3.264   96.4   18.0   252   11.8 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   02 15 59.8   -05 17 12     2.976    3.263   97.2   18.0   252   11.8 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   02 16 32.4   -05 19 50     2.963    3.263   98.0   17.9   252   11.8 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   02 17 04.1   -05 22 34     2.949    3.263   98.8   17.9   253   11.8 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   02 17 34.9   -05 25 26     2.936    3.263   99.6   17.9   253   11.8 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   02 18 04.6   -05 28 25     2.922    3.262  100.4   17.8   253   11.7 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   02 18 33.5   -05 31 31     2.909    3.262  101.2   17.8   254   11.7 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   02 19 01.3   -05 34 44     2.896    3.262  102.0   17.7   254   11.7 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   02 19 28.2   -05 38 05     2.882    3.261  102.9   17.6   254   11.7 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   02 19 54.0   -05 41 33     2.869    3.261  103.7   17.6   255   11.7 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   02 20 18.8   -05 45 07     2.856    3.261  104.5   17.5   255   11.7 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   02 20 42.6   -05 48 49     2.843    3.261  105.3   17.4   255   11.7 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   02 21 05.4   -05 52 38     2.830    3.260  106.1   17.4   256   11.7 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   02 21 27.0   -05 56 34     2.817    3.260  107.0   17.3   256   11.6 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   02 21 47.6   -06 00 37     2.804    3.260  107.8   17.2   256   11.6 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   02 22 07.1   -06 04 47     2.791    3.259  108.7   17.1   257   11.6 

    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.