2002 MN
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	24 Oct 2025	27.7	2.657 AU	1.749 AU	03h54m	+19°21'	149.9°	10.8°

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 2002 MN are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.4995269
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.8162858
            i (Inclination)                 : 1.04709
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 85.29141
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 131.59939
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 224.05997
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 36.89555
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 0.78300
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 2.45            
        

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.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   03 54 21.7   +19 21 40     1.749    2.657  149.9   10.8   260   27.7 
2025-10-24 05:02 UT   03 54 09.0   +19 21 01     1.747    2.657  150.2   10.7   260   27.7 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   03 53 20.7   +19 18 35     1.741    2.656  151.2   10.4   260   27.7 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   03 52 18.0   +19 15 25     1.733    2.654  152.4   10.0   260   27.7 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   03 51 13.7   +19 12 08     1.725    2.652  153.7    9.6   260   27.6 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   03 50 07.9   +19 08 46     1.717    2.651  154.9    9.1   260   27.6 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   03 49 00.5   +19 05 18     1.709    2.649  156.2    8.7   260   27.6 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   03 47 51.6   +19 01 44     1.702    2.647  157.5    8.3   260   27.5 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   03 46 41.2   +18 58 05     1.695    2.645  158.8    7.8   260   27.5 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   03 45 29.5   +18 54 19     1.689    2.644  160.0    7.4   260   27.5 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   03 44 16.5   +18 50 29     1.682    2.642  161.3    6.9   260   27.5 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   03 43 02.3   +18 46 32     1.676    2.640  162.6    6.4   260   27.4 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   03 41 46.9   +18 42 31     1.671    2.638  163.9    6.0   260   27.4 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   03 40 30.3   +18 38 24     1.665    2.636  165.3    5.5   260   27.4 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   03 39 12.7   +18 34 12     1.660    2.634  166.6    5.0   261   27.3 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   03 37 54.2   +18 29 55     1.655    2.632  167.9    4.5   261   27.3 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   03 36 34.7   +18 25 34     1.651    2.630  169.2    4.0   261   27.3 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   03 35 14.4   +18 21 08     1.646    2.628  170.5    3.6   262   27.2 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   03 33 53.4   +18 16 37     1.642    2.626  171.9    3.1   263   27.2 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   03 32 31.7   +18 12 03     1.639    2.624  173.2    2.6   264   27.1 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   03 31 09.4   +18 07 24     1.635    2.622  174.5    2.1   265   27.1 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   03 29 46.6   +18 02 42     1.632    2.620  175.8    1.6   268   27.1 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   03 28 23.4   +17 57 57     1.630    2.618  177.1    1.1   274   27.0 
2025-11-15 00:00 UT   03 26 59.8   +17 53 08     1.627    2.616  178.4    0.6   288   27.0 
2025-11-16 00:00 UT   03 25 36.1   +17 48 17     1.625    2.614  179.1    0.3   343   26.9 
2025-11-17 00:00 UT   03 24 12.1   +17 43 24     1.624    2.612  178.4    0.6    42   26.9 
2025-11-18 00:00 UT   03 22 48.2   +17 38 28     1.622    2.610  177.2    1.1    57   27.0 
2025-11-19 00:00 UT   03 21 24.3   +17 33 31     1.621    2.608  175.9    1.6    63   27.0 
2025-11-20 00:00 UT   03 20 00.5   +17 28 32     1.620    2.606  174.6    2.1    66   27.1 

    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.