(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	28 Sep 2026	13.8	3.006 AU	3.514 AU	08h47m	-01°06'	52.2°	15.3°
Opposition	11 Feb 2027	12.5	2.965 AU	2.070 AU	09h02m	-14°47'	149.8°	9.6°

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)                : 0.2537701
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4011433
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.59941
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.06372
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.32439
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 142.12240
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.41261
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.59905
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   08 47 36.7   -01 06 40     3.514    3.006   52.2   15.3   271   13.8 
2026-09-28 12:42 UT   08 48 12.4   -01 11 18     3.508    3.006   52.6   15.3   272   13.8 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   08 48 44.0   -01 15 25     3.504    3.007   52.9   15.4   272   13.8 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   08 49 50.8   -01 24 13     3.493    3.007   53.5   15.5   272   13.8 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   08 50 57.1   -01 33 03     3.483    3.007   54.1   15.6   273   13.8 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   08 52 02.9   -01 41 56     3.472    3.007   54.7   15.8   273   13.8 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   08 53 08.2   -01 50 51     3.462    3.007   55.3   15.9   273   13.8 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   08 54 13.0   -01 59 48     3.451    3.008   56.0   16.0   274   13.8 
2026-10-05 00:00 UT   08 55 17.3   -02 08 48     3.440    3.008   56.6   16.1   274   13.8 
2026-10-06 00:00 UT   08 56 21.1   -02 17 50     3.429    3.008   57.2   16.2   274   13.8 
2026-10-07 00:00 UT   08 57 24.3   -02 26 55     3.418    3.008   57.9   16.3   275   13.8 
2026-10-08 00:00 UT   08 58 26.9   -02 36 01     3.407    3.008   58.5   16.5   275   13.8 
2026-10-09 00:00 UT   08 59 29.0   -02 45 10     3.396    3.009   59.2   16.6   275   13.8 
2026-10-10 00:00 UT   09 00 30.5   -02 54 21     3.385    3.009   59.8   16.7   276   13.8 
2026-10-11 00:00 UT   09 01 31.5   -03 03 34     3.373    3.009   60.4   16.8   276   13.8 
2026-10-12 00:00 UT   09 02 31.8   -03 12 48     3.362    3.009   61.1   16.9   276   13.8 
2026-10-13 00:00 UT   09 03 31.6   -03 22 05     3.350    3.009   61.8   17.0   277   13.8 
2026-10-14 00:00 UT   09 04 30.7   -03 31 23     3.339    3.009   62.4   17.1   277   13.8 
2026-10-15 00:00 UT   09 05 29.3   -03 40 43     3.327    3.010   63.1   17.2   277   13.8 
2026-10-16 00:00 UT   09 06 27.2   -03 50 04     3.315    3.010   63.7   17.3   278   13.8 
2026-10-17 00:00 UT   09 07 24.5   -03 59 27     3.303    3.010   64.4   17.4   278   13.8 
2026-10-18 00:00 UT   09 08 21.1   -04 08 52     3.291    3.010   65.1   17.5   278   13.8 
2026-10-19 00:00 UT   09 09 17.1   -04 18 18     3.279    3.010   65.7   17.6   279   13.8 
2026-10-20 00:00 UT   09 10 12.4   -04 27 45     3.267    3.010   66.4   17.6   279   13.8 
2026-10-21 00:00 UT   09 11 07.1   -04 37 14     3.255    3.010   67.1   17.7   279   13.8 
2026-10-22 00:00 UT   09 12 01.1   -04 46 44     3.243    3.010   67.7   17.8   280   13.8 
2026-10-23 00:00 UT   09 12 54.4   -04 56 15     3.230    3.010   68.4   17.9   280   13.8 
2026-10-24 00:00 UT   09 13 47.1   -05 05 47     3.218    3.010   69.1   18.0   280   13.7 
2026-10-25 00:00 UT   09 14 39.0   -05 15 20     3.206    3.010   69.8   18.1   281   13.7 
2026-10-26 00:00 UT   09 15 30.2   -05 24 54     3.193    3.010   70.5   18.1   281   13.7 
2026-10-27 00:00 UT   09 16 20.7   -05 34 29     3.181    3.010   71.2   18.2   281   13.7 

    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.