(471) Papagena
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Oct 2026	12.1	2.876 AU	3.252 AU	10h58m	+18°44'	59.4°	17.3°
Opposition	4 Mar 2027	11.0	3.146 AU	2.202 AU	11h37m	+25°52'	158.6°	6.6°

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)                : 0.2294809
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8902491
            i (Inclination)                 : 15.01583
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 83.76945
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 315.95781
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 46.73170
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 40.72122
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.37636
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-10-31 00:00 UT   10 58 04.9   +18 44 54     3.252    2.876   59.4   17.3   300   12.1 
2026-10-31 21:31 UT   10 59 15.1   +18 41 46     3.243    2.878   60.0   17.4   300   12.1 
2026-11-01 00:00 UT   10 59 23.2   +18 41 24     3.242    2.878   60.1   17.4   300   12.1 
2026-11-02 00:00 UT   11 00 41.0   +18 37 58     3.232    2.881   60.7   17.5   300   12.1 
2026-11-03 00:00 UT   11 01 58.3   +18 34 37     3.223    2.883   61.4   17.6   299   12.1 
2026-11-04 00:00 UT   11 03 15.0   +18 31 21     3.213    2.885   62.1   17.7   299   12.1 
2026-11-05 00:00 UT   11 04 31.1   +18 28 10     3.203    2.888   62.8   17.8   299   12.1 
2026-11-06 00:00 UT   11 05 46.6   +18 25 04     3.193    2.890   63.5   17.9   299   12.1 
2026-11-07 00:00 UT   11 07 01.5   +18 22 02     3.183    2.892   64.2   18.0   299   12.1 
2026-11-08 00:00 UT   11 08 15.8   +18 19 07     3.173    2.895   64.9   18.1   299   12.1 
2026-11-09 00:00 UT   11 09 29.4   +18 16 16     3.162    2.897   65.6   18.1   299   12.1 
2026-11-10 00:00 UT   11 10 42.5   +18 13 31     3.152    2.899   66.3   18.2   299   12.1 
2026-11-11 00:00 UT   11 11 54.9   +18 10 52     3.142    2.901   67.0   18.3   299   12.1 
2026-11-12 00:00 UT   11 13 06.7   +18 08 18     3.131    2.904   67.7   18.4   298   12.1 
2026-11-13 00:00 UT   11 14 17.8   +18 05 51     3.121    2.906   68.4   18.5   298   12.1 
2026-11-14 00:00 UT   11 15 28.3   +18 03 29     3.110    2.908   69.1   18.5   298   12.1 
2026-11-15 00:00 UT   11 16 38.1   +18 01 13     3.099    2.911   69.8   18.6   298   12.1 
2026-11-16 00:00 UT   11 17 47.3   +17 59 03     3.089    2.913   70.6   18.7   298   12.1 
2026-11-17 00:00 UT   11 18 55.7   +17 56 60     3.078    2.915   71.3   18.7   298   12.1 
2026-11-18 00:00 UT   11 20 03.5   +17 55 02     3.067    2.918   72.0   18.8   298   12.1 
2026-11-19 00:00 UT   11 21 10.5   +17 53 12     3.056    2.920   72.7   18.9   298   12.1 
2026-11-20 00:00 UT   11 22 16.8   +17 51 27     3.045    2.922   73.5   18.9   298   12.1 
2026-11-21 00:00 UT   11 23 22.5   +17 49 50     3.034    2.924   74.2   19.0   297   12.0 
2026-11-22 00:00 UT   11 24 27.4   +17 48 19     3.023    2.927   75.0   19.0   297   12.0 
2026-11-23 00:00 UT   11 25 31.5   +17 46 54     3.012    2.929   75.7   19.1   297   12.0 
2026-11-24 00:00 UT   11 26 34.9   +17 45 37     3.001    2.931   76.5   19.1   297   12.0 
2026-11-25 00:00 UT   11 27 37.6   +17 44 27     2.990    2.934   77.2   19.2   297   12.0 
2026-11-26 00:00 UT   11 28 39.5   +17 43 23     2.978    2.936   78.0   19.2   297   12.0 
2026-11-27 00:00 UT   11 29 40.6   +17 42 27     2.967    2.938   78.7   19.2   297   12.0 
2026-11-28 00:00 UT   11 30 40.9   +17 41 38     2.956    2.940   79.5   19.3   296   12.0 
2026-11-29 00:00 UT   11 31 40.5   +17 40 57     2.944    2.943   80.3   19.3   296   12.0 
2026-11-30 00:00 UT   11 32 39.2   +17 40 23     2.933    2.945   81.0   19.3   296   12.0 

    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.