(93) Minerva
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Mar 2026	11.9	2.610 AU	1.739 AU	14h08m	-17°32'	143.8°	13.0°
Opposition	20 Apr 2026	11.2	2.566 AU	1.565 AU	13h44m	-17°33'	173.7°	2.5°

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)      : 275.92701
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 273.09910
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -80.19344
            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
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   14 08 58.2   -17 32 22     1.739    2.610  143.8   13.0   296   11.9 
2026-03-21 12:51 UT   14 08 42.1   -17 33 24     1.734    2.609  144.4   12.9   296   11.9 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   14 08 27.8   -17 34 16     1.730    2.608  144.9   12.7   296   11.9 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   14 07 55.9   -17 36 03     1.721    2.607  145.9   12.4   296   11.9 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   14 07 22.4   -17 37 42     1.712    2.605  147.0   12.0   297   11.9 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   14 06 47.5   -17 39 14     1.703    2.604  148.1   11.7   297   11.8 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   14 06 11.0   -17 40 38     1.695    2.602  149.2   11.3   298   11.8 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   14 05 33.1   -17 41 54     1.687    2.601  150.3   11.0   298   11.8 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   14 04 53.8   -17 43 03     1.679    2.599  151.4   10.6   299   11.7 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   14 04 13.2   -17 44 03     1.671    2.598  152.5   10.2   299   11.7 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   14 03 31.2   -17 44 56     1.664    2.597  153.6    9.8   300   11.7 
2026-03-31 00:00 UT   14 02 47.8   -17 45 42     1.657    2.595  154.7    9.5   301   11.7 
2026-04-01 00:00 UT   14 02 03.3   -17 46 19     1.650    2.594  155.9    9.1   301   11.6 
2026-04-02 00:00 UT   14 01 17.5   -17 46 49     1.643    2.592  157.0    8.7   302   11.6 
2026-04-03 00:00 UT   14 00 30.5   -17 47 11     1.636    2.591  158.1    8.3   303   11.6 
2026-04-04 00:00 UT   13 59 42.3   -17 47 25     1.630    2.589  159.2    7.9   304   11.6 
2026-04-05 00:00 UT   13 58 53.1   -17 47 31     1.624    2.588  160.3    7.5   305   11.5 
2026-04-06 00:00 UT   13 58 02.9   -17 47 30     1.619    2.587  161.4    7.1   307   11.5 
2026-04-07 00:00 UT   13 57 11.6   -17 47 21     1.613    2.585  162.5    6.7   308   11.5 
2026-04-08 00:00 UT   13 56 19.4   -17 47 04     1.608    2.584  163.6    6.3   310   11.5 
2026-04-09 00:00 UT   13 55 26.3   -17 46 40     1.603    2.582  164.7    5.9   311   11.4 
2026-04-10 00:00 UT   13 54 32.4   -17 46 09     1.598    2.581  165.8    5.5   313   11.4 
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   13 53 37.8   -17 45 30     1.594    2.579  166.8    5.1   316   11.4 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   13 52 42.4   -17 44 45     1.590    2.578  167.8    4.7   319   11.3 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   13 51 46.4   -17 43 52     1.586    2.577  168.8    4.3   322   11.3 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   13 50 49.8   -17 42 52     1.582    2.575  169.8    4.0   326   11.3 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   13 49 52.7   -17 41 46     1.579    2.574  170.7    3.6   331   11.3 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   13 48 55.2   -17 40 33     1.576    2.572  171.5    3.3   336   11.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   13 47 57.4   -17 39 14     1.573    2.571  172.3    3.0   343   11.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   13 46 59.2   -17 37 49     1.570    2.570  172.9    2.8   351   11.2 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   13 46 00.8   -17 36 18     1.568    2.568  173.4    2.6     1   11.2 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   13 45 02.3   -17 34 42     1.566    2.567  173.6    2.5    11   11.2 

    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.