(196) Philomela
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Jan 2025	12.7	3.123 AU	3.342 AU	00h20m	-03°32'	68.8°	17.1°
Opposition	10 Dec 2025	11.0	3.155 AU	2.170 AU	05h08m	+24°02'	178.9°	0.3°

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 Philomela are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0144187
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1121186
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.26299
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 72.29808
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 203.40774
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 86.85830
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 95.53800
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.87887
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.49            
        

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
2025-01-15 00:00 UT   00 20 57.4   -03 32 59     3.342    3.123   68.8   17.1    69   12.7 
2025-01-15 06:31 UT   00 21 12.6   -03 30 44     3.345    3.123   68.6   17.0    69   12.7 
2025-01-16 00:00 UT   00 21 53.5   -03 24 40     3.355    3.123   68.0   17.0    69   12.7 
2025-01-17 00:00 UT   00 22 50.1   -03 16 20     3.368    3.123   67.3   16.9    69   12.7 
2025-01-18 00:00 UT   00 23 47.4   -03 07 56     3.382    3.123   66.5   16.8    69   12.7 
2025-01-19 00:00 UT   00 24 45.2   -02 59 31     3.395    3.123   65.8   16.7    69   12.7 
2025-01-20 00:00 UT   00 25 43.5   -02 51 04     3.408    3.124   65.1   16.6    69   12.7 
2025-01-21 00:00 UT   00 26 42.4   -02 42 34     3.421    3.124   64.3   16.5    69   12.7 
2025-01-22 00:00 UT   00 27 41.9   -02 34 03     3.435    3.124   63.6   16.4    69   12.8 
2025-01-23 00:00 UT   00 28 41.8   -02 25 29     3.448    3.124   62.9   16.3    69   12.8 
2025-01-24 00:00 UT   00 29 42.3   -02 16 54     3.460    3.124   62.1   16.2    69   12.8 
2025-01-25 00:00 UT   00 30 43.3   -02 08 16     3.473    3.124   61.4   16.1    69   12.8 
2025-01-26 00:00 UT   00 31 44.8   -01 59 37     3.486    3.124   60.7   16.0    70   12.8 
2025-01-27 00:00 UT   00 32 46.8   -01 50 56     3.499    3.124   60.0   15.8    70   12.8 
2025-01-28 00:00 UT   00 33 49.3   -01 42 14     3.511    3.125   59.3   15.7    70   12.8 
2025-01-29 00:00 UT   00 34 52.3   -01 33 30     3.524    3.125   58.5   15.6    70   12.8 
2025-01-30 00:00 UT   00 35 55.7   -01 24 44     3.536    3.125   57.8   15.5    70   12.8 
2025-01-31 00:00 UT   00 36 59.7   -01 15 57     3.548    3.125   57.1   15.4    70   12.8 
2025-02-01 00:00 UT   00 38 04.0   -01 07 08     3.561    3.125   56.4   15.2    70   12.8 
2025-02-02 00:00 UT   00 39 08.8   +00 58 18     3.573    3.125   55.7   15.1    70   12.8 
2025-02-03 00:00 UT   00 40 14.1   +00 49 27     3.585    3.125   55.0   15.0    70   12.8 
2025-02-04 00:00 UT   00 41 19.8   +00 40 34     3.597    3.126   54.3   14.8    70   12.8 
2025-02-05 00:00 UT   00 42 25.9   +00 31 41     3.608    3.126   53.6   14.7    70   12.8 
2025-02-06 00:00 UT   00 43 32.4   +00 22 46     3.620    3.126   52.9   14.6    70   12.8 
2025-02-07 00:00 UT   00 44 39.4   +00 13 50     3.632    3.126   52.2   14.4    71   12.8 
2025-02-08 00:00 UT   00 45 46.7   +00 04 53     3.643    3.126   51.5   14.3    71   12.8 
2025-02-09 00:00 UT   00 46 54.4   +00 04 04     3.654    3.126   50.8   14.2    71   12.8 
2025-02-10 00:00 UT   00 48 02.5   +00 13 03     3.666    3.126   50.1   14.0    71   12.8 
2025-02-11 00:00 UT   00 49 11.0   +00 22 02     3.677    3.126   49.4   13.9    71   12.8 
2025-02-12 00:00 UT   00 50 19.9   +00 31 02     3.688    3.127   48.8   13.7    71   12.8 

    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.