(25) Phocaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	6 Jul 2026	13.6	2.955 AU	3.924 AU	06h53m	+07°34'	15.2°	5.2°
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
2026-07-06 00:00 UT   06 53 51.3   +07 34 48     3.924    2.955   15.2    5.2   185   13.6 
2026-07-06 09:17 UT   06 54 25.9   +07 33 34     3.924    2.955   15.2    5.2   185   13.6 
2026-07-07 00:00 UT   06 55 20.8   +07 31 35     3.925    2.956   15.2    5.2   187   13.6 
2026-07-08 00:00 UT   06 56 50.3   +07 28 17     3.925    2.957   15.3    5.2   189   13.6 
2026-07-09 00:00 UT   06 58 19.6   +07 24 55     3.926    2.958   15.3    5.2   192   13.6 
2026-07-10 00:00 UT   06 59 48.9   +07 21 28     3.926    2.959   15.4    5.2   194   13.6 
2026-07-11 00:00 UT   07 01 18.1   +07 17 56     3.926    2.959   15.5    5.3   196   13.6 
2026-07-12 00:00 UT   07 02 47.2   +07 14 19     3.927    2.960   15.6    5.3   198   13.6 
2026-07-13 00:00 UT   07 04 16.2   +07 10 37     3.927    2.961   15.8    5.4   200   13.6 
2026-07-14 00:00 UT   07 05 45.1   +07 06 51     3.926    2.962   15.9    5.4   203   13.6 
2026-07-15 00:00 UT   07 07 13.8   +07 02 59     3.926    2.963   16.1    5.5   205   13.7 
2026-07-16 00:00 UT   07 08 42.5   +06 59 03     3.926    2.964   16.3    5.5   207   13.7 
2026-07-17 00:00 UT   07 10 11.0   +06 55 03     3.925    2.965   16.5    5.6   209   13.7 
2026-07-18 00:00 UT   07 11 39.4   +06 50 57     3.924    2.966   16.8    5.7   211   13.7 
2026-07-19 00:00 UT   07 13 07.6   +06 46 47     3.923    2.966   17.0    5.7   213   13.7 
2026-07-20 00:00 UT   07 14 35.7   +06 42 32     3.922    2.967   17.3    5.8   214   13.7 
2026-07-21 00:00 UT   07 16 03.7   +06 38 12     3.921    2.968   17.5    5.9   216   13.7 
2026-07-22 00:00 UT   07 17 31.5   +06 33 48     3.920    2.969   17.8    6.0   218   13.7 
2026-07-23 00:00 UT   07 18 59.2   +06 29 20     3.918    2.970   18.1    6.1   220   13.7 
2026-07-24 00:00 UT   07 20 26.7   +06 24 46     3.917    2.971   18.4    6.2   221   13.7 
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   07 21 54.0   +06 20 08     3.915    2.971   18.8    6.3   223   13.7 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   07 23 21.2   +06 15 26     3.913    2.972   19.1    6.4   225   13.7 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   07 24 48.2   +06 10 39     3.911    2.973   19.5    6.5   226   13.7 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   07 26 15.1   +06 05 47     3.909    2.974   19.8    6.7   228   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.