(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	3 Aug 2026	13.7	2.978 AU	3.893 AU	07h34m	+05°35'	22.2°	7.4°
Opposition	11 Feb 2027	12.5	2.965 AU	2.070 AU	09h02m	-14°48'	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)                : 0.2540340
            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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   07 34 52.4   +05 35 04     3.893    2.978   22.2    7.4   235   13.7 
2026-08-03 10:32 UT   07 35 30.0   +05 32 43     3.892    2.979   22.4    7.5   236   13.7 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   07 36 18.0   +05 29 41     3.890    2.979   22.6    7.5   237   13.7 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   07 37 43.4   +05 24 14     3.887    2.980   23.0    7.7   238   13.7 
2026-08-06 00:00 UT   07 39 08.6   +05 18 43     3.883    2.980   23.5    7.8   239   13.8 
2026-08-07 00:00 UT   07 40 33.6   +05 13 07     3.880    2.981   23.9    7.9   240   13.8 
2026-08-08 00:00 UT   07 41 58.4   +05 07 26     3.876    2.982   24.4    8.1   241   13.8 
2026-08-09 00:00 UT   07 43 22.9   +05 01 42     3.872    2.982   24.8    8.2   242   13.8 
2026-08-10 00:00 UT   07 44 47.3   +04 55 53     3.868    2.983   25.3    8.3   243   13.8 
2026-08-11 00:00 UT   07 46 11.4   +04 49 59     3.864    2.984   25.8    8.5   244   13.8 
2026-08-12 00:00 UT   07 47 35.3   +04 44 02     3.860    2.984   26.2    8.6   245   13.8 
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   07 48 59.0   +04 38 00     3.855    2.985   26.7    8.8   246   13.8 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   07 50 22.4   +04 31 54     3.851    2.986   27.2    8.9   247   13.8 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   07 51 45.6   +04 25 44     3.846    2.986   27.7    9.1   247   13.8 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   07 53 08.6   +04 19 30     3.841    2.987   28.2    9.2   248   13.8 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   07 54 31.2   +04 13 11     3.836    2.988   28.7    9.4   249   13.8 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   07 55 53.7   +04 06 49     3.831    2.988   29.2    9.5   250   13.8 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   07 57 15.8   +04 00 22     3.826    2.989   29.7    9.6   251   13.8 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   07 58 37.7   +03 53 52     3.821    2.989   30.2    9.8   251   13.8 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   07 59 59.3   +03 47 17     3.815    2.990   30.7    9.9   252   13.8 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   08 01 20.7   +03 40 39     3.810    2.991   31.2   10.1   253   13.8 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   08 02 41.7   +03 33 56     3.804    2.991   31.7   10.2   254   13.8 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   08 04 02.5   +03 27 10     3.798    2.992   32.2   10.4   254   13.8 
2026-08-25 00:00 UT   08 05 23.0   +03 20 20     3.792    2.992   32.8   10.5   255   13.8 
2026-08-26 00:00 UT   08 06 43.2   +03 13 26     3.786    2.993   33.3   10.7   256   13.8 

    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.