(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	27 Jul 2024	12.0	2.005 AU	1.806 AU	14h06m	-00°55'	85.8°	30.3°
Opposition	22 Nov 2025	11.4	2.545 AU	1.582 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)                : 0.2542429
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.4004501
            i (Inclination)                 : 21.60817
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 214.09236
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 90.20199
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 343.19156
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 124.30962
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 21.60803
            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
2024-07-27 00:00 UT   14 06 36.3   +00 55 49     1.806    2.005   85.8   30.3   109   12.0 
2024-07-27 12:54 UT   14 07 18.3   +00 57 22     1.810    2.004   85.4   30.3   109   12.0 
2024-07-28 00:00 UT   14 07 54.7   +00 58 43     1.814    2.003   85.2   30.3   109   12.0 
2024-07-29 00:00 UT   14 09 14.2   -01 01 45     1.822    2.000   84.6   30.4   109   12.0 
2024-07-30 00:00 UT   14 10 34.7   -01 04 54     1.831    1.998   83.9   30.4   109   12.0 
2024-07-31 00:00 UT   14 11 56.2   -01 08 10     1.839    1.995   83.4   30.4   109   12.0 
2024-08-01 00:00 UT   14 13 18.7   -01 11 33     1.847    1.992   82.8   30.4   108   12.0 
2024-08-02 00:00 UT   14 14 42.3   -01 15 03     1.856    1.990   82.2   30.3   108   12.0 
2024-08-03 00:00 UT   14 16 06.9   -01 18 40     1.864    1.987   81.6   30.3   108   12.0 
2024-08-04 00:00 UT   14 17 32.4   -01 22 23     1.872    1.985   81.0   30.3   108   12.0 
2024-08-05 00:00 UT   14 18 59.0   -01 26 12     1.880    1.982   80.4   30.3   107   12.0 
2024-08-06 00:00 UT   14 20 26.5   -01 30 07     1.888    1.980   79.9   30.3   107   12.1 
2024-08-07 00:00 UT   14 21 55.0   -01 34 07     1.896    1.977   79.3   30.3   107   12.1 
2024-08-08 00:00 UT   14 23 24.4   -01 38 14     1.904    1.975   78.7   30.2   107   12.1 
2024-08-09 00:00 UT   14 24 54.8   -01 42 25     1.912    1.973   78.2   30.2   107   12.1 
2024-08-10 00:00 UT   14 26 26.1   -01 46 42     1.920    1.970   77.6   30.2   106   12.1 
2024-08-11 00:00 UT   14 27 58.3   -01 51 03     1.928    1.968   77.1   30.1   106   12.1 
2024-08-12 00:00 UT   14 29 31.5   -01 55 29     1.936    1.965   76.5   30.1   106   12.1 
2024-08-13 00:00 UT   14 31 05.5   -02 00 00     1.944    1.963   76.0   30.1   106   12.1 
2024-08-14 00:00 UT   14 32 40.4   -02 04 35     1.952    1.960   75.5   30.0   105   12.1 
2024-08-15 00:00 UT   14 34 16.2   -02 09 14     1.960    1.958   74.9   30.0   105   12.1 
2024-08-16 00:00 UT   14 35 52.9   -02 13 57     1.967    1.956   74.4   29.9   105   12.1 
2024-08-17 00:00 UT   14 37 30.4   -02 18 44     1.975    1.953   73.9   29.9   105   12.1 
2024-08-18 00:00 UT   14 39 08.8   -02 23 35     1.983    1.951   73.4   29.8   104   12.1 

    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.