(50) Virginia
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	23 Apr 2024	14.1	3.322 AU	2.317 AU	14h12m	-10°30'	177.2°	0.9°
Today	24 Apr 2024	14.0	3.321 AU	2.316 AU	14h12m	-10°28'	177.3°	0.8°

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 Virginia are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2848912
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6516783
            i (Inclination)                 : 2.83914
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 173.46505
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 200.03144
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 209.72509
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 193.47385
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.97216
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.32            
        

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
2024-04-24 00:00 UT   14 12 05.5   -10 28 19     2.316    3.321  177.3    0.8   208   14.0 
2024-04-24 15:01 UT   14 11 33.8   -10 25 14     2.315    3.320  177.3    0.8   192   14.0 
2024-04-25 00:00 UT   14 11 14.9   -10 23 23     2.315    3.320  177.2    0.8   183   14.0 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   14 10 24.2   -10 18 27     2.314    3.319  176.7    1.0   163   14.1 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   14 09 33.6   -10 13 33     2.313    3.318  175.8    1.3   150   14.1 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   14 08 43.0   -10 08 39     2.313    3.316  174.9    1.6   141   14.1 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   14 07 52.5   -10 03 46     2.312    3.315  173.8    1.9   135   14.1 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   14 07 02.1   -09 58 54     2.313    3.314  172.7    2.2   131   14.2 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   14 06 12.0   -09 54 05     2.313    3.313  171.6    2.5   128   14.2 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   14 05 22.0   -09 49 17     2.314    3.312  170.5    2.9   126   14.2 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   14 04 32.4   -09 44 31     2.315    3.311  169.3    3.2   124   14.2 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   14 03 43.1   -09 39 48     2.316    3.309  168.2    3.6   123   14.2 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   14 02 54.1   -09 35 08     2.318    3.308  167.0    3.9   122   14.3 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   14 02 05.6   -09 30 30     2.320    3.307  165.8    4.3   121   14.3 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   14 01 17.6   -09 25 56     2.322    3.306  164.7    4.6   120   14.3 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   14 00 30.0   -09 21 25     2.324    3.305  163.5    5.0   119   14.3 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   13 59 43.0   -09 16 58     2.327    3.303  162.4    5.3   119   14.3 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   13 58 56.6   -09 12 35     2.330    3.302  161.2    5.7   118   14.4 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   13 58 10.8   -09 08 16     2.334    3.301  160.0    6.0   118   14.4 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   13 57 25.7   -09 04 02     2.337    3.300  158.9    6.3   117   14.4 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   13 56 41.2   -08 59 52     2.341    3.298  157.7    6.7   117   14.4 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   13 55 57.6   -08 55 47     2.345    3.297  156.6    7.0   117   14.4 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   13 55 14.7   -08 51 48     2.350    3.296  155.4    7.3   116   14.5 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   13 54 32.6   -08 47 53     2.354    3.295  154.3    7.6   116   14.5 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   13 53 51.3   -08 44 04     2.359    3.293  153.2    8.0   116   14.5 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   13 53 10.9   -08 40 20     2.365    3.292  152.0    8.3   116   14.5 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   13 52 31.4   -08 36 43     2.370    3.291  150.9    8.6   116   14.5 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   13 51 52.9   -08 33 11     2.376    3.290  149.8    8.9   115   14.5 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   13 51 15.3   -08 29 45     2.382    3.288  148.6    9.2   115   14.6 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   13 50 38.6   -08 26 25     2.388    3.287  147.5    9.5   115   14.6 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   13 50 02.9   -08 23 12     2.394    3.286  146.4    9.8   115   14.6 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   13 49 28.3   -08 20 05     2.401    3.284  145.3   10.1   115   14.6 

    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.