(196) Philomela
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	11 May 2025	12.6	3.137 AU	4.136 AU	02h47m	+13°06'	7.5°	2.4°
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)                : 0.0142208
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1126641
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.26295
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 72.29826
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 203.94060
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 122.24269
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 96.06814
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.94063
            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
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   02 47 01.3   +13 06 19     4.136    3.137    7.5    2.4   230   12.6 
2025-05-11 09:56 UT   02 47 36.7   +13 09 21     4.135    3.137    7.7    2.5   231   12.6 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   02 48 26.8   +13 13 37     4.135    3.138    8.0    2.6   232   12.6 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   02 49 52.4   +13 20 52     4.133    3.138    8.6    2.7   234   12.6 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   02 51 18.0   +13 28 05     4.131    3.138    9.1    2.9   235   12.6 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   02 52 43.6   +13 35 15     4.130    3.138    9.7    3.1   236   12.6 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   02 54 09.3   +13 42 22     4.128    3.138   10.3    3.3   238   12.6 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   02 55 35.0   +13 49 27     4.126    3.138   10.8    3.5   239   12.6 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   02 57 00.7   +13 56 29     4.123    3.138   11.4    3.7   240   12.6 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   02 58 26.4   +14 03 28     4.121    3.138   12.0    3.8   240   12.6 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   02 59 52.2   +14 10 24     4.118    3.138   12.6    4.0   241   12.6 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   03 01 17.9   +14 17 17     4.116    3.139   13.1    4.2   242   12.7 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   03 02 43.7   +14 24 08     4.113    3.139   13.7    4.4   243   12.7 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   03 04 09.5   +14 30 56     4.110    3.139   14.3    4.6   243   12.7 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   03 05 35.4   +14 37 40     4.107    3.139   14.9    4.8   244   12.7 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   03 07 01.2   +14 44 22     4.103    3.139   15.5    4.9   244   12.7 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   03 08 27.0   +14 51 01     4.100    3.139   16.1    5.1   245   12.7 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   03 09 52.8   +14 57 37     4.096    3.139   16.7    5.3   245   12.7 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   03 11 18.6   +15 04 10     4.093    3.139   17.2    5.5   246   12.7 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   03 12 44.3   +15 10 40     4.089    3.139   17.8    5.7   246   12.7 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   03 14 10.1   +15 17 07     4.085    3.140   18.4    5.9   247   12.7 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   03 15 35.8   +15 23 31     4.081    3.140   19.0    6.0   247   12.7 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   03 17 01.5   +15 29 52     4.076    3.140   19.6    6.2   248   12.7 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   03 18 27.1   +15 36 10     4.072    3.140   20.2    6.4   248   12.7 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   03 19 52.7   +15 42 24     4.067    3.140   20.8    6.6   248   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.