(245) Vera
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Apr 2024	13.8	3.226 AU	2.941 AU	20h02m	-24°06'	97.3°	18.0°
Opposition	15 Jul 2024	12.2	3.072 AU	2.060 AU	19h47m	-27°23'	173.8°	2.0°

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 Vera are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1976366
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0962912
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.17937
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 61.03650
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 331.85701
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 264.29918
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 32.99090
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -2.44038
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.45            
        

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
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   20 02 03.0   -24 06 25     2.941    3.226   97.3   18.0   259   13.8 
2024-04-25 07:11 UT   20 02 14.6   -24 06 25     2.936    3.226   97.5   18.0   259   13.8 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   20 02 41.2   -24 06 27     2.925    3.224   98.1   18.0   259   13.8 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   20 03 18.4   -24 06 32     2.909    3.222   98.9   18.0   259   13.8 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   20 03 54.6   -24 06 40     2.893    3.221   99.8   17.9   259   13.8 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   20 04 29.7   -24 06 52     2.878    3.219  100.6   17.9   259   13.8 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   20 05 03.8   -24 07 07     2.862    3.217  101.4   17.9   259   13.7 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   20 05 36.9   -24 07 26     2.846    3.215  102.3   17.8   259   13.7 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   20 06 08.8   -24 07 49     2.831    3.213  103.1   17.8   259   13.7 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   20 06 39.7   -24 08 15     2.815    3.212  104.0   17.7   259   13.7 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   20 07 09.5   -24 08 46     2.800    3.210  104.9   17.7   259   13.7 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   20 07 38.1   -24 09 20     2.784    3.208  105.7   17.6   259   13.7 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   20 08 05.6   -24 09 58     2.769    3.206  106.6   17.6   259   13.7 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   20 08 32.0   -24 10 40     2.754    3.204  107.5   17.5   259   13.6 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   20 08 57.2   -24 11 26     2.738    3.202  108.3   17.4   259   13.6 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   20 09 21.2   -24 12 17     2.723    3.200  109.2   17.3   259   13.6 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   20 09 44.1   -24 13 11     2.708    3.199  110.1   17.2   259   13.6 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   20 10 05.7   -24 14 10     2.693    3.197  111.0   17.2   259   13.6 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   20 10 26.2   -24 15 13     2.678    3.195  111.9   17.1   259   13.6 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   20 10 45.4   -24 16 21     2.663    3.193  112.8   17.0   259   13.5 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   20 11 03.4   -24 17 32     2.649    3.191  113.7   16.9   259   13.5 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   20 11 20.1   -24 18 49     2.634    3.189  114.6   16.8   259   13.5 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   20 11 35.6   -24 20 09     2.619    3.188  115.5   16.6   260   13.5 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   20 11 49.9   -24 21 34     2.605    3.186  116.4   16.5   260   13.5 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   20 12 02.8   -24 23 04     2.591    3.184  117.3   16.4   260   13.5 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   20 12 14.5   -24 24 38     2.576    3.182  118.2   16.3   260   13.4 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   20 12 24.9   -24 26 16     2.562    3.180  119.1   16.1   260   13.4 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   20 12 34.0   -24 27 59     2.548    3.178  120.1   16.0   260   13.4 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   20 12 41.9   -24 29 47     2.534    3.176  121.0   15.9   260   13.4 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   20 12 48.3   -24 31 39     2.520    3.175  121.9   15.7   260   13.4 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   20 12 53.5   -24 33 35     2.507    3.173  122.9   15.5   260   13.3 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   20 12 57.3   -24 35 36     2.493    3.171  123.8   15.4   260   13.3 

    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.