(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	16 Oct 2025	11.8	2.445 AU	1.658 AU	04h36m	+11°46'	132.5°	17.5°
Opposition	22 Nov 2025	11.4	2.545 AU	1.581 AU	04h06m	+04°29'	163.9°	6.2°

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)                : 0.2540340
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4002954
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.60663
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.08841
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.23190
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 89.19817
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.33784
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.60644
            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
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   04 36 10.5   +11 46 58     1.658    2.445  132.5   17.5   271   11.8 
2025-10-16 17:44 UT   04 35 54.2   +11 38 19     1.653    2.447  133.3   17.2   272   11.8 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   04 35 48.2   +11 35 15     1.651    2.447  133.6   17.2   272   11.8 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   04 35 24.0   +11 23 27     1.645    2.450  134.6   16.8   272   11.8 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   04 34 58.0   +11 11 34     1.639    2.453  135.7   16.5   273   11.8 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   04 34 30.1   +10 59 37     1.634    2.456  136.7   16.1   273   11.8 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   04 34 00.4   +10 47 36     1.628    2.458  137.8   15.8   274   11.7 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   04 33 29.0   +10 35 32     1.623    2.461  138.9   15.4   275   11.7 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   04 32 55.8   +10 23 25     1.618    2.464  139.9   15.1   275   11.7 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   04 32 20.9   +10 11 16     1.613    2.467  141.0   14.7   276   11.7 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   04 31 44.3   +09 59 04     1.608    2.469  142.1   14.3   277   11.7 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   04 31 06.0   +09 46 50     1.604    2.472  143.1   14.0   278   11.7 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   04 30 26.1   +09 34 35     1.599    2.475  144.2   13.6   278   11.6 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   04 29 44.7   +09 22 19     1.595    2.478  145.3   13.2   279   11.6 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   04 29 01.8   +09 10 03     1.591    2.480  146.3   12.8   280   11.6 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   04 28 17.3   +08 57 46     1.588    2.483  147.4   12.4   281   11.6 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   04 27 31.4   +08 45 30     1.585    2.486  148.4   12.1   283   11.6 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   04 26 44.2   +08 33 15     1.582    2.488  149.5   11.7   284   11.6 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   04 25 55.6   +08 21 01     1.579    2.491  150.5   11.3   285   11.5 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   04 25 05.7   +08 08 49     1.576    2.494  151.5   10.9   286   11.5 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   04 24 14.7   +07 56 40     1.574    2.496  152.6   10.5   288   11.5 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   04 23 22.4   +07 44 33     1.572    2.499  153.6   10.2   290   11.5 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   04 22 29.0   +07 32 29     1.570    2.502  154.5    9.8   291   11.5 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   04 21 34.6   +07 20 30     1.569    2.504  155.5    9.4   293   11.5 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   04 20 39.2   +07 08 34     1.567    2.507  156.4    9.1   295   11.5 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   04 19 42.8   +06 56 44     1.566    2.510  157.3    8.8   298   11.4 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   04 18 45.6   +06 44 59     1.566    2.512  158.2    8.4   300   11.4 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   04 17 47.5   +06 33 20     1.565    2.515  159.0    8.1   303   11.4 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   04 16 48.8   +06 21 47     1.565    2.518  159.8    7.8   305   11.4 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   04 15 49.3   +06 10 21     1.565    2.520  160.6    7.5   308   11.4 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   04 14 49.2   +05 59 03     1.566    2.523  161.3    7.2   312   11.4 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   04 13 48.6   +05 47 53     1.566    2.526  161.9    7.0   315   11.4 

    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.