(487) Venetia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Jan 2026	13.1	2.464 AU	2.141 AU	02h52m	+07°13'	97.1°	23.4°
Opposition	28 Feb 2027	12.3	2.781 AU	1.803 AU	11h02m	+18°19'	168.8°	4.0°

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 Venetia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.0862307
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6694593
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.25349
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 114.75177
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 281.88871
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 9.83146
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.82781
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.03125
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.36            
        

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
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   02 52 21.3   +07 13 45     2.141    2.464   97.1   23.4    72   13.1 
2026-01-26 18:30 UT   02 52 56.4   +07 20 42     2.151    2.465   96.5   23.4    72   13.2 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   02 53 07.0   +07 22 46     2.154    2.465   96.3   23.4    72   13.2 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   02 53 53.9   +07 31 50     2.167    2.465   95.5   23.4    72   13.2 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   02 54 42.0   +07 40 54     2.180    2.466   94.8   23.5    72   13.2 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   02 55 31.2   +07 49 60     2.193    2.466   94.0   23.5    73   13.2 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   02 56 21.6   +07 59 07     2.206    2.467   93.2   23.5    73   13.2 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   02 57 13.2   +08 08 14     2.219    2.467   92.5   23.5    73   13.2 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   02 58 05.8   +08 17 23     2.233    2.468   91.7   23.5    73   13.2 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   02 58 59.6   +08 26 32     2.246    2.468   91.0   23.5    73   13.3 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   02 59 54.4   +08 35 42     2.259    2.469   90.2   23.5    73   13.3 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   03 00 50.4   +08 44 52     2.272    2.469   89.5   23.5    74   13.3 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   03 01 47.4   +08 54 03     2.285    2.469   88.8   23.5    74   13.3 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   03 02 45.4   +09 03 14     2.299    2.470   88.0   23.5    74   13.3 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   03 03 44.4   +09 12 25     2.312    2.470   87.3   23.5    74   13.3 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   03 04 44.5   +09 21 36     2.325    2.471   86.6   23.5    74   13.3 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   03 05 45.6   +09 30 47     2.338    2.471   85.9   23.5    75   13.3 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   03 06 47.7   +09 39 58     2.351    2.472   85.1   23.4    75   13.4 
2026-02-12 00:00 UT   03 07 50.7   +09 49 08     2.365    2.472   84.4   23.4    75   13.4 
2026-02-13 00:00 UT   03 08 54.7   +09 58 18     2.378    2.473   83.7   23.4    75   13.4 
2026-02-14 00:00 UT   03 09 59.7   +10 07 28     2.391    2.473   83.0   23.3    75   13.4 
2026-02-15 00:00 UT   03 11 05.6   +10 16 37     2.404    2.474   82.3   23.3    75   13.4 
2026-02-16 00:00 UT   03 12 12.4   +10 25 46     2.417    2.475   81.6   23.3    76   13.4 
2026-02-17 00:00 UT   03 13 20.2   +10 34 53     2.430    2.475   80.9   23.2    76   13.4 
2026-02-18 00:00 UT   03 14 28.8   +10 43 60     2.444    2.476   80.2   23.2    76   13.4 
2026-02-19 00:00 UT   03 15 38.4   +10 53 06     2.457    2.476   79.5   23.1    76   13.4 
2026-02-20 00:00 UT   03 16 48.8   +11 02 10     2.470    2.477   78.9   23.1    76   13.5 
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   03 18 00.1   +11 11 13     2.483    2.477   78.2   23.0    76   13.5 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   03 19 12.2   +11 20 15     2.496    2.478   77.5   22.9    77   13.5 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   03 20 25.1   +11 29 16     2.509    2.478   76.8   22.9    77   13.5 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   03 21 38.9   +11 38 15     2.522    2.479   76.1   22.8    77   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.