(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	20 Apr 2024	10.4	2.281 AU	1.276 AU	13h54m	-13°59'	177.7°	1.0°
Today	24 Apr 2024	10.4	2.270 AU	1.266 AU	13h50m	-13°01'	176.1°	1.7°

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 Phocaea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2543172
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4005094
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.60895
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.09337
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.21077
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 290.18950
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.32007
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.60880
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.72            
        

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
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   13 50 56.8   -13 01 05     1.266    2.270  176.1    1.7    88   10.4 
2024-04-24 17:00 UT   13 50 19.6   -12 49 06     1.264    2.268  175.3    2.1    94   10.4 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   13 50 04.3   -12 44 10     1.264    2.267  175.0    2.2    95   10.4 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   13 49 11.9   -12 27 11     1.262    2.264  173.8    2.8   100   10.5 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   13 48 19.9   -12 10 09     1.260    2.262  172.5    3.3   104   10.5 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   13 47 28.1   -11 53 05     1.258    2.259  171.3    3.9   106   10.5 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   13 46 36.8   -11 36 01     1.257    2.256  170.0    4.4   108   10.5 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   13 45 46.0   -11 18 56     1.256    2.253  168.8    5.0   109   10.6 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   13 44 55.8   -11 01 52     1.256    2.250  167.5    5.6   110   10.6 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   13 44 06.2   -10 44 49     1.255    2.247  166.3    6.1   111   10.6 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   13 43 17.2   -10 27 50     1.255    2.244  165.0    6.7   112   10.6 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   13 42 29.1   -10 10 54     1.255    2.241  163.7    7.2   112   10.7 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   13 41 41.9   -09 54 03     1.256    2.238  162.5    7.8   113   10.7 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   13 40 55.5   -09 37 17     1.256    2.235  161.2    8.3   113   10.7 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   13 40 10.2   -09 20 38     1.257    2.232  160.0    8.9   114   10.7 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   13 39 25.9   -09 04 06     1.259    2.229  158.7    9.4   114   10.7 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   13 38 42.8   -08 47 43     1.260    2.227  157.5   10.0   114   10.8 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   13 38 00.9   -08 31 28     1.262    2.224  156.3   10.5   115   10.8 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   13 37 20.2   -08 15 24     1.264    2.221  155.0   11.1   115   10.8 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   13 36 40.8   -07 59 30     1.266    2.218  153.8   11.6   115   10.8 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   13 36 02.7   -07 43 47     1.268    2.215  152.6   12.1   115   10.9 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   13 35 26.1   -07 28 17     1.271    2.212  151.4   12.6   116   10.9 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   13 34 50.9   -07 12 60     1.274    2.209  150.2   13.2   116   10.9 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   13 34 17.3   -06 57 56     1.277    2.206  149.0   13.7   116   10.9 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   13 33 45.1   -06 43 05     1.281    2.203  147.8   14.2   116   10.9 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   13 33 14.5   -06 28 30     1.284    2.200  146.6   14.6   116   11.0 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   13 32 45.5   -06 14 09     1.288    2.197  145.5   15.1   116   11.0 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   13 32 18.2   -06 00 04     1.292    2.194  144.3   15.6   116   11.0 

    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.