(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	26 Apr 2025	11.3	2.617 AU	1.830 AU	17h30m	-15°49'	132.5°	16.5°
Opposition	5 Jun 2025	10.6	2.695 AU	1.686 AU	17h00m	-14°51'	172.1°	3.0°

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 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
2025-04-26 00:00 UT   17 30 02.5   -15 49 58     1.830    2.617  132.5   16.5   266   11.3 
2025-04-26 01:02 UT   17 30 01.9   -15 49 53     1.830    2.617  132.5   16.5   266   11.3 
2025-04-27 00:00 UT   17 29 45.9   -15 47 60     1.822    2.619  133.5   16.2   266   11.3 
2025-04-28 00:00 UT   17 29 27.5   -15 46 02     1.815    2.621  134.5   15.9   266   11.2 
2025-04-29 00:00 UT   17 29 07.4   -15 44 04     1.807    2.623  135.6   15.6   265   11.2 
2025-04-30 00:00 UT   17 28 45.7   -15 42 08     1.800    2.625  136.6   15.3   265   11.2 
2025-05-01 00:00 UT   17 28 22.2   -15 40 12     1.793    2.627  137.7   15.0   265   11.2 
2025-05-02 00:00 UT   17 27 57.2   -15 38 17     1.786    2.629  138.7   14.7   264   11.2 
2025-05-03 00:00 UT   17 27 30.4   -15 36 23     1.780    2.631  139.8   14.3   264   11.2 
2025-05-04 00:00 UT   17 27 02.1   -15 34 30     1.773    2.633  140.8   14.0   264   11.1 
2025-05-05 00:00 UT   17 26 32.2   -15 32 39     1.767    2.635  141.9   13.7   263   11.1 
2025-05-06 00:00 UT   17 26 00.8   -15 30 48     1.761    2.637  142.9   13.3   263   11.1 
2025-05-07 00:00 UT   17 25 27.8   -15 28 59     1.755    2.639  144.0   13.0   263   11.1 
2025-05-08 00:00 UT   17 24 53.3   -15 27 11     1.749    2.641  145.1   12.6   262   11.1 
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   17 24 17.3   -15 25 25     1.744    2.643  146.2   12.3   262   11.0 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   17 23 39.9   -15 23 40     1.738    2.645  147.3   11.9   261   11.0 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   17 23 01.1   -15 21 57     1.733    2.647  148.3   11.6   261   11.0 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   17 22 20.9   -15 20 16     1.728    2.648  149.4   11.2   260   11.0 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   17 21 39.4   -15 18 36     1.724    2.650  150.5   10.8   260   11.0 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   17 20 56.6   -15 16 58     1.719    2.652  151.6   10.4   259   10.9 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   17 20 12.5   -15 15 22     1.715    2.654  152.7   10.1   259   10.9 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   17 19 27.2   -15 13 48     1.711    2.656  153.8    9.7   258   10.9 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   17 18 40.7   -15 12 16     1.708    2.658  154.9    9.3   257   10.9 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   17 17 53.1   -15 10 46     1.704    2.660  156.0    8.9   256   10.9 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   17 17 04.4   -15 09 18     1.701    2.662  157.1    8.5   255   10.9 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   17 16 14.6   -15 07 53     1.698    2.664  158.1    8.1   254   10.8 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   17 15 23.9   -15 06 30     1.695    2.666  159.2    7.7   253   10.8 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   17 14 32.2   -15 05 09     1.693    2.668  160.3    7.4   252   10.8 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   17 13 39.6   -15 03 51     1.691    2.670  161.4    7.0   250   10.8 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   17 12 46.2   -15 02 36     1.689    2.671  162.4    6.6   249   10.8 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   17 11 52.1   -15 01 23     1.687    2.673  163.5    6.2   247   10.7 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   17 10 57.2   -15 00 13     1.685    2.675  164.5    5.8   245   10.7 

    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.