(471) Papagena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Mar 2025	11.5	2.480 AU	3.366 AU	23h19m	-15°47'	23.2°	9.1°
Opposition	10 Nov 2025	9.1	2.231 AU	1.262 AU	03h20m	+01°56'	164.1°	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 Papagena are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2290234
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8885290
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.01908
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 83.77139
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 315.87748
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 326.52079
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 40.64340
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.39379
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.91            
        

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
2025-03-26 00:00 UT   23 19 35.3   -15 47 01     3.366    2.480   23.2    9.1   221   11.5 
2025-03-26 10:58 UT   23 20 26.1   -15 42 28     3.363    2.479   23.4    9.2   221   11.5 
2025-03-27 00:00 UT   23 21 26.5   -15 37 05     3.359    2.478   23.6    9.3   221   11.5 
2025-03-28 00:00 UT   23 23 17.5   -15 27 09     3.353    2.475   24.1    9.5   222   11.6 
2025-03-29 00:00 UT   23 25 08.5   -15 17 12     3.346    2.473   24.5    9.7   222   11.6 
2025-03-30 00:00 UT   23 26 59.4   -15 07 15     3.340    2.471   25.0    9.8   223   11.6 
2025-03-31 00:00 UT   23 28 50.2   -14 57 17     3.333    2.469   25.5   10.0   223   11.6 
2025-04-01 00:00 UT   23 30 41.0   -14 47 19     3.327    2.467   25.9   10.2   224   11.6 
2025-04-02 00:00 UT   23 32 31.7   -14 37 21     3.320    2.465   26.4   10.4   224   11.6 
2025-04-03 00:00 UT   23 34 22.2   -14 27 23     3.313    2.463   26.9   10.6   224   11.6 
2025-04-04 00:00 UT   23 36 12.7   -14 17 24     3.306    2.461   27.3   10.8   225   11.6 
2025-04-05 00:00 UT   23 38 03.2   -14 07 26     3.299    2.459   27.8   10.9   225   11.6 
2025-04-06 00:00 UT   23 39 53.5   -13 57 27     3.292    2.457   28.3   11.1   225   11.6 
2025-04-07 00:00 UT   23 41 43.8   -13 47 29     3.284    2.455   28.8   11.3   226   11.6 
2025-04-08 00:00 UT   23 43 33.9   -13 37 30     3.277    2.453   29.2   11.5   226   11.6 
2025-04-09 00:00 UT   23 45 24.0   -13 27 32     3.270    2.450   29.7   11.7   226   11.6 
2025-04-10 00:00 UT   23 47 14.0   -13 17 34     3.262    2.448   30.2   11.9   227   11.6 
2025-04-11 00:00 UT   23 49 04.0   -13 07 36     3.255    2.446   30.6   12.0   227   11.6 
2025-04-12 00:00 UT   23 50 53.8   -12 57 39     3.247    2.444   31.1   12.2   227   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.