(93) Minerva
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	20 Apr 2026	11.2	2.566 AU	1.565 AU	13h44m	-17°33'	173.7°	2.5°
Today	1 May 2026	11.3	2.552 AU	1.562 AU	13h34m	-17°12'	166.1°	5.4°

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 Minerva are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1429093
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.7529865
            i (Inclination)                 : 8.53973
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 3.81358
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 275.92700
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 273.09910
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -80.19345
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -8.49374
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.57            
        

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
2026-05-01 00:00 UT   13 34 31.0   -17 12 23     1.562    2.552  166.1    5.4    82   11.3 
2026-05-01 00:33 UT   13 34 29.7   -17 12 20     1.562    2.551  166.1    5.4    83   11.3 
2026-05-02 00:00 UT   13 33 36.5   -17 10 04     1.563    2.550  165.1    5.8    85   11.3 
2026-05-03 00:00 UT   13 32 42.7   -17 07 43     1.565    2.549  164.0    6.3    87   11.4 
2026-05-04 00:00 UT   13 31 49.8   -17 05 21     1.567    2.547  162.9    6.7    88   11.4 
2026-05-05 00:00 UT   13 30 57.7   -17 02 59     1.569    2.546  161.8    7.1    90   11.4 
2026-05-06 00:00 UT   13 30 06.6   -17 00 35     1.571    2.545  160.7    7.5    91   11.4 
2026-05-07 00:00 UT   13 29 16.5   -16 58 12     1.573    2.543  159.6    7.9    92   11.5 
2026-05-08 00:00 UT   13 28 27.4   -16 55 48     1.576    2.542  158.5    8.4    93   11.5 
2026-05-09 00:00 UT   13 27 39.4   -16 53 25     1.579    2.541  157.4    8.8    94   11.5 
2026-05-10 00:00 UT   13 26 52.5   -16 51 03     1.582    2.539  156.3    9.2    95   11.5 
2026-05-11 00:00 UT   13 26 06.9   -16 48 42     1.586    2.538  155.2    9.6    96   11.5 
2026-05-12 00:00 UT   13 25 22.4   -16 46 23     1.589    2.537  154.1   10.0    97   11.6 
2026-05-13 00:00 UT   13 24 39.3   -16 44 05     1.593    2.535  153.0   10.4    97   11.6 
2026-05-14 00:00 UT   13 23 57.5   -16 41 49     1.597    2.534  151.9   10.8    98   11.6 
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   13 23 17.1   -16 39 36     1.602    2.533  150.8   11.2    99   11.6 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   13 22 38.0   -16 37 26     1.606    2.531  149.7   11.6    99   11.6 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   13 22 00.4   -16 35 19     1.611    2.530  148.6   12.0   100   11.7 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   13 21 24.4   -16 33 16     1.616    2.529  147.5   12.4   100   11.7 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   13 20 49.8   -16 31 16     1.622    2.527  146.4   12.8   101   11.7 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   13 20 16.8   -16 29 20     1.627    2.526  145.4   13.2   101   11.7 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   13 19 45.3   -16 27 29     1.633    2.525  144.3   13.5   102   11.7 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   13 19 15.5   -16 25 42     1.639    2.523  143.2   13.9   102   11.8 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   13 18 47.2   -16 24 00     1.645    2.522  142.2   14.2   102   11.8 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   13 18 20.6   -16 22 24     1.651    2.521  141.1   14.6   103   11.8 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   13 17 55.6   -16 20 52     1.657    2.519  140.1   14.9   103   11.8 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   13 17 32.4   -16 19 26     1.664    2.518  139.1   15.3   103   11.8 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   13 17 10.7   -16 18 06     1.671    2.517  138.0   15.6   104   11.9 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   13 16 50.8   -16 16 51     1.678    2.515  137.0   15.9   104   11.9 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   13 16 32.5   -16 15 43     1.685    2.514  136.0   16.3   104   11.9 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   13 16 15.9   -16 14 40     1.692    2.513  135.0   16.6   105   11.9 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   13 16 01.0   -16 13 44     1.700    2.512  134.0   16.9   105   11.9 

    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.