(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	5 Jun 2025	10.6	2.695 AU	1.686 AU	17h00m	-14°51'	172.1°	3.0°
Today	5 Jul 2025	11.2	2.748 AU	1.845 AU	16h36m	-15°03'	146.2°	11.9°

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 Astraea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1874407
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.5767618
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.35887
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 141.45353
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 359.31775
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 86.24723
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 140.77426
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -0.06372
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.14            
        

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
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   16 36 43.2   -15 03 47     1.845    2.748  146.2   11.9   109   11.2 
2025-07-05 15:58 UT   16 36 21.4   -15 04 47     1.850    2.750  145.5   12.1   108   11.2 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   16 36 10.6   -15 05 18     1.854    2.750  145.2   12.2   108   11.2 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   16 35 39.6   -15 06 53     1.863    2.752  144.2   12.5   108   11.3 
2025-07-08 00:00 UT   16 35 09.9   -15 08 32     1.872    2.754  143.1   12.8   107   11.3 
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   16 34 41.8   -15 10 16     1.882    2.755  142.1   13.1   107   11.3 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   16 34 15.1   -15 12 03     1.892    2.757  141.0   13.4   107   11.3 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   16 33 50.0   -15 13 55     1.902    2.759  140.0   13.7   106   11.4 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   16 33 26.3   -15 15 50     1.912    2.761  139.0   14.0   106   11.4 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   16 33 04.1   -15 17 50     1.922    2.762  138.0   14.3   106   11.4 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   16 32 43.5   -15 19 53     1.933    2.764  137.0   14.5   106   11.4 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   16 32 24.3   -15 22 00     1.943    2.766  136.0   14.8   105   11.5 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   16 32 06.7   -15 24 11     1.954    2.768  135.0   15.1   105   11.5 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   16 31 50.6   -15 26 26     1.965    2.769  134.0   15.3   105   11.5 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   16 31 36.1   -15 28 44     1.976    2.771  133.0   15.6   105   11.5 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   16 31 23.1   -15 31 06     1.988    2.773  132.0   15.8   104   11.5 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   16 31 11.6   -15 33 31     1.999    2.774  131.0   16.0   104   11.6 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   16 31 01.6   -15 35 60     2.011    2.776  130.0   16.3   104   11.6 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   16 30 53.2   -15 38 32     2.023    2.778  129.1   16.5   104   11.6 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   16 30 46.4   -15 41 07     2.035    2.779  128.1   16.7   104   11.6 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   16 30 41.1   -15 43 46     2.047    2.781  127.2   16.9   103   11.7 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   16 30 37.3   -15 46 28     2.059    2.783  126.2   17.1   103   11.7 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   16 30 35.0   -15 49 13     2.072    2.785  125.3   17.3   103   11.7 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   16 30 34.3   -15 52 01     2.084    2.786  124.3   17.5   103   11.7 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   16 30 35.1   -15 54 52     2.097    2.788  123.4   17.7   103   11.7 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   16 30 37.4   -15 57 46     2.110    2.790  122.5   17.9   102   11.8 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   16 30 41.2   -16 00 43     2.123    2.791  121.5   18.1   102   11.8 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   16 30 46.5   -16 03 42     2.136    2.793  120.6   18.2   102   11.8 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   16 30 53.3   -16 06 43     2.149    2.795  119.7   18.4   102   11.8 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   16 31 01.5   -16 09 48     2.162    2.796  118.8   18.5   102   11.8 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   16 31 11.2   -16 12 54     2.176    2.798  117.9   18.7   102   11.9 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   16 31 22.4   -16 16 03     2.189    2.799  117.0   18.8   101   11.9 

    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.