(174) Phaedra
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	4 May 2026	11.8	2.496 AU	1.523 AU	14h21m	-34°51'	160.4°	7.8°
Today	15 May 2026	11.9	2.487 AU	1.524 AU	14h11m	-34°12'	157.4°	9.0°

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 Phaedra are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1453987
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.8582135
            i (Inclination)                 : 12.10492
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 327.26496
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 291.02118
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 301.20526
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 258.72113
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -11.28833
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.83            
        

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
2026-05-15 00:00 UT   14 11 29.4   -34 12 20     1.524    2.487  157.4    9.0    52   11.9 
2026-05-15 05:01 UT   14 11 18.4   -34 11 21     1.524    2.487  157.2    9.0    52   11.9 
2026-05-16 00:00 UT   14 10 36.9   -34 07 35     1.525    2.487  156.8    9.2    54   11.9 
2026-05-17 00:00 UT   14 09 45.6   -34 02 40     1.527    2.486  156.2    9.5    57   11.9 
2026-05-18 00:00 UT   14 08 55.5   -33 57 36     1.529    2.485  155.5    9.7    59   11.9 
2026-05-19 00:00 UT   14 08 06.7   -33 52 25     1.531    2.484  154.8   10.0    62   11.9 
2026-05-20 00:00 UT   14 07 19.2   -33 47 05     1.534    2.484  154.1   10.2    64   12.0 
2026-05-21 00:00 UT   14 06 33.1   -33 41 39     1.536    2.483  153.4   10.5    66   12.0 
2026-05-22 00:00 UT   14 05 48.5   -33 36 07     1.539    2.482  152.6   10.8    68   12.0 
2026-05-23 00:00 UT   14 05 05.4   -33 30 28     1.542    2.482  151.9   11.1    70   12.0 
2026-05-24 00:00 UT   14 04 23.9   -33 24 44     1.546    2.481  151.1   11.4    71   12.0 
2026-05-25 00:00 UT   14 03 43.9   -33 18 56     1.549    2.480  150.3   11.7    73   12.0 
2026-05-26 00:00 UT   14 03 05.6   -33 13 03     1.553    2.479  149.4   12.0    75   12.0 
2026-05-27 00:00 UT   14 02 29.0   -33 07 07     1.557    2.479  148.6   12.3    76   12.1 
2026-05-28 00:00 UT   14 01 54.1   -33 01 07     1.561    2.478  147.8   12.6    78   12.1 
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   14 01 20.9   -32 55 05     1.566    2.477  146.9   12.9    79   12.1 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   14 00 49.4   -32 49 01     1.570    2.477  146.1   13.2    80   12.1 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   14 00 19.8   -32 42 55     1.575    2.476  145.2   13.5    81   12.1 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   13 59 51.9   -32 36 48     1.580    2.475  144.3   13.8    83   12.1 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   13 59 25.9   -32 30 40     1.585    2.475  143.4   14.1    84   12.2 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   13 59 01.8   -32 24 32     1.591    2.474  142.6   14.4    85   12.2 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   13 58 39.5   -32 18 25     1.596    2.473  141.7   14.7    86   12.2 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   13 58 19.0   -32 12 18     1.602    2.473  140.8   15.0    87   12.2 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   13 58 00.5   -32 06 12     1.608    2.472  139.9   15.3    88   12.2 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   13 57 43.8   -32 00 08     1.614    2.471  139.0   15.6    89   12.2 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   13 57 29.1   -31 54 06     1.620    2.471  138.1   15.9    89   12.3 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   13 57 16.2   -31 48 06     1.627    2.470  137.2   16.2    90   12.3 
2026-06-10 00:00 UT   13 57 05.3   -31 42 09     1.633    2.470  136.4   16.5    91   12.3 
2026-06-11 00:00 UT   13 56 56.3   -31 36 16     1.640    2.469  135.5   16.8    92   12.3 
2026-06-12 00:00 UT   13 56 49.2   -31 30 26     1.647    2.468  134.6   17.0    92   12.3 
2026-06-13 00:00 UT   13 56 44.0   -31 24 39     1.654    2.468  133.7   17.3    93   12.4 
2026-06-14 00:00 UT   13 56 40.8   -31 18 57     1.662    2.467  132.8   17.6    94   12.4 

    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.