(194) Prokne
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	12 Jul 2025	13.4	2.693 AU	3.531 AU	05h33m	+09°18'	29.5°	10.7°
Opposition	8 Jan 2026	12.4	3.057 AU	2.120 AU	07h07m	+01°02'	158.7°	6.7°

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 Prokne are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2371711
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6165745
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.50783
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 159.24148
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 163.27052
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 67.76629
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 143.33236
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 5.24269
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.23            
        

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
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   05 33 49.6   +09 18 28     3.531    2.693   29.5   10.7   241   13.4 
2025-07-12 09:26 UT   05 34 27.8   +09 18 23     3.530    2.694   29.7   10.8   241   13.4 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   05 35 26.8   +09 18 13     3.528    2.696   30.0   10.9   242   13.4 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   05 37 03.6   +09 17 52     3.525    2.698   30.5   11.0   243   13.4 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   05 38 40.2   +09 17 27     3.521    2.700   30.9   11.2   243   13.4 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   05 40 16.5   +09 16 55     3.518    2.703   31.4   11.3   244   13.4 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   05 41 52.5   +09 16 19     3.514    2.705   31.9   11.5   244   13.4 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   05 43 28.1   +09 15 37     3.510    2.708   32.4   11.6   245   13.4 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   05 45 03.5   +09 14 50     3.506    2.710   32.9   11.8   246   13.5 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   05 46 38.5   +09 13 57     3.502    2.712   33.4   11.9   246   13.5 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   05 48 13.2   +09 12 60     3.498    2.715   33.9   12.1   247   13.5 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   05 49 47.6   +09 11 57     3.494    2.717   34.4   12.2   247   13.5 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   05 51 21.6   +09 10 48     3.489    2.720   35.0   12.4   248   13.5 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   05 52 55.3   +09 09 35     3.485    2.722   35.5   12.5   248   13.5 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   05 54 28.6   +09 08 16     3.480    2.724   36.0   12.7   249   13.5 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   05 56 01.6   +09 06 53     3.475    2.727   36.5   12.8   249   13.5 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   05 57 34.2   +09 05 24     3.471    2.729   37.0   12.9   250   13.5 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   05 59 06.4   +09 03 50     3.466    2.732   37.5   13.1   250   13.5 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   06 00 38.3   +09 02 11     3.461    2.734   38.1   13.2   251   13.5 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   06 02 09.7   +09 00 27     3.455    2.736   38.6   13.4   251   13.5 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   06 03 40.8   +08 58 38     3.450    2.739   39.1   13.5   252   13.5 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   06 05 11.4   +08 56 44     3.445    2.741   39.7   13.7   252   13.5 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   06 06 41.7   +08 54 46     3.439    2.743   40.2   13.8   253   13.5 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   06 08 11.5   +08 52 42     3.433    2.746   40.7   14.0   253   13.5 

    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.