(196) Philomela
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Apr 2024	12.8	3.086 AU	3.717 AU	23h12m	-11°30'	44.8°	13.3°
Opposition	22 Sep 2024	11.1	3.107 AU	2.115 AU	00h16m	-09°19'	169.8°	3.3°

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)                : 0.0147419
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.1128435
            i (Inclination)                 : 7.26292
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 72.29905
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 203.59869
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 14.84489
            Epoch                           : 2023 Sep 13

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 95.72888
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.90101
            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
2024-04-19 00:00 UT   23 12 39.1   -11 30 31     3.717    3.086   44.8   13.3   241   12.8 
2024-04-19 10:09 UT   23 13 12.1   -11 27 36     3.713    3.086   45.1   13.3   241   12.8 
2024-04-20 00:00 UT   23 13 57.0   -11 23 38     3.708    3.087   45.4   13.4   241   12.8 
2024-04-21 00:00 UT   23 15 14.6   -11 16 46     3.698    3.087   46.1   13.6   241   12.8 
2024-04-22 00:00 UT   23 16 31.9   -11 09 57     3.688    3.087   46.7   13.7   241   12.8 
2024-04-23 00:00 UT   23 17 48.8   -11 03 10     3.679    3.087   47.3   13.9   241   12.8 
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   23 19 05.3   -10 56 25     3.669    3.087   48.0   14.0   241   12.8 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   23 20 21.6   -10 49 43     3.659    3.087   48.6   14.1   241   12.8 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   23 21 37.4   -10 43 02     3.649    3.087   49.2   14.3   242   12.8 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   23 22 53.0   -10 36 25     3.639    3.087   49.9   14.4   242   12.8 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   23 24 08.1   -10 29 49     3.628    3.087   50.5   14.6   242   12.8 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   23 25 22.9   -10 23 16     3.618    3.088   51.1   14.7   242   12.8 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   23 26 37.4   -10 16 46     3.608    3.088   51.8   14.9   242   12.8 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   23 27 51.4   -10 10 18     3.597    3.088   52.4   15.0   242   12.8 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   23 29 05.1   -10 03 53     3.586    3.088   53.1   15.1   242   12.8 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   23 30 18.5   -09 57 30     3.576    3.088   53.7   15.3   242   12.8 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   23 31 31.4   -09 51 11     3.565    3.088   54.4   15.4   242   12.8 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   23 32 43.9   -09 44 54     3.554    3.088   55.0   15.5   242   12.8 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   23 33 56.1   -09 38 40     3.543    3.088   55.7   15.6   242   12.8 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   23 35 07.8   -09 32 30     3.532    3.089   56.3   15.8   242   12.8 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   23 36 19.1   -09 26 22     3.521    3.089   57.0   15.9   242   12.8 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   23 37 30.1   -09 20 18     3.509    3.089   57.6   16.0   242   12.8 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   23 38 40.5   -09 14 17     3.498    3.089   58.3   16.1   243   12.8 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   23 39 50.6   -09 08 19     3.487    3.089   58.9   16.3   243   12.8 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   23 41 00.2   -09 02 25     3.475    3.089   59.6   16.4   243   12.8 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   23 42 09.4   -08 56 34     3.463    3.089   60.3   16.5   243   12.8 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   23 43 18.1   -08 50 46     3.452    3.089   60.9   16.6   243   12.8 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   23 44 26.4   -08 45 02     3.440    3.090   61.6   16.7   243   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.