(747) Winchester
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	25 Apr 2024	14.2	3.781 AU	3.134 AU	17h58m	-05°43'	123.4°	12.8°
Opposition	12 Jun 2024	13.5	3.691 AU	2.713 AU	17h31m	-04°47'	161.5°	5.0°

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 Winchester are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3398070
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 3.0006334
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.21617
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 129.05881
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 277.55574
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 227.81140
            Epoch                           : 2024 Mar 31

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 47.00822
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -18.05253
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.20            
        

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   17 58 47.7   -05 43 37     3.134    3.781  123.4   12.8   258   14.2 
2024-04-25 17:29 UT   17 58 40.1   -05 41 39     3.124    3.780  124.0   12.7   258   14.2 
2024-04-26 00:00 UT   17 58 37.2   -05 40 55     3.120    3.780  124.3   12.7   258   14.2 
2024-04-27 00:00 UT   17 58 25.5   -05 38 15     3.107    3.778  125.2   12.6   257   14.2 
2024-04-28 00:00 UT   17 58 12.8   -05 35 38     3.093    3.776  126.2   12.4   257   14.1 
2024-04-29 00:00 UT   17 57 58.9   -05 33 02     3.080    3.774  127.1   12.3   256   14.1 
2024-04-30 00:00 UT   17 57 43.9   -05 30 29     3.067    3.773  128.1   12.1   256   14.1 
2024-05-01 00:00 UT   17 57 27.8   -05 27 59     3.054    3.771  129.0   12.0   255   14.1 
2024-05-02 00:00 UT   17 57 10.6   -05 25 30     3.042    3.769  130.0   11.8   254   14.1 
2024-05-03 00:00 UT   17 56 52.3   -05 23 05     3.029    3.767  130.9   11.7   254   14.1 
2024-05-04 00:00 UT   17 56 32.9   -05 20 42     3.017    3.766  131.9   11.5   253   14.0 
2024-05-05 00:00 UT   17 56 12.4   -05 18 23     3.005    3.764  132.8   11.3   253   14.0 
2024-05-06 00:00 UT   17 55 50.8   -05 16 06     2.993    3.762  133.8   11.2   252   14.0 
2024-05-07 00:00 UT   17 55 28.1   -05 13 53     2.981    3.760  134.7   11.0   251   14.0 
2024-05-08 00:00 UT   17 55 04.3   -05 11 43     2.970    3.758  135.7   10.8   251   14.0 
2024-05-09 00:00 UT   17 54 39.5   -05 09 37     2.958    3.757  136.6   10.6   250   14.0 
2024-05-10 00:00 UT   17 54 13.6   -05 07 34     2.947    3.755  137.6   10.5   249   13.9 
2024-05-11 00:00 UT   17 53 46.7   -05 05 35     2.936    3.753  138.5   10.3   249   13.9 
2024-05-12 00:00 UT   17 53 18.7   -05 03 41     2.926    3.751  139.4   10.1   248   13.9 
2024-05-13 00:00 UT   17 52 49.8   -05 01 50     2.915    3.749  140.4    9.9   247   13.9 
2024-05-14 00:00 UT   17 52 19.8   -05 00 03     2.905    3.748  141.3    9.7   246   13.9 
2024-05-15 00:00 UT   17 51 48.9   -04 58 21     2.895    3.746  142.3    9.5   245   13.9 
2024-05-16 00:00 UT   17 51 17.0   -04 56 43     2.885    3.744  143.2    9.3   244   13.8 
2024-05-17 00:00 UT   17 50 44.2   -04 55 09     2.875    3.742  144.1    9.1   243   13.8 
2024-05-18 00:00 UT   17 50 10.4   -04 53 40     2.866    3.740  145.0    8.9   242   13.8 
2024-05-19 00:00 UT   17 49 35.7   -04 52 16     2.857    3.738  146.0    8.7   241   13.8 
2024-05-20 00:00 UT   17 49 00.2   -04 50 57     2.848    3.736  146.9    8.5   240   13.8 
2024-05-21 00:00 UT   17 48 23.8   -04 49 43     2.839    3.735  147.8    8.3   239   13.8 
2024-05-22 00:00 UT   17 47 46.5   -04 48 34     2.831    3.733  148.6    8.1   238   13.7 
2024-05-23 00:00 UT   17 47 08.5   -04 47 30     2.823    3.731  149.5    7.9   236   13.7 
2024-05-24 00:00 UT   17 46 29.6   -04 46 31     2.815    3.729  150.4    7.7   235   13.7 
2024-05-25 00:00 UT   17 45 49.9   -04 45 38     2.807    3.727  151.2    7.5   234   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.