(5) Astraea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	31 Aug 2025	12.3	2.842 AU	2.579 AU	16h44m	-17°49'	94.5°	20.7°
Opposition	28 Aug 2026	11.1	3.037 AU	2.028 AU	22h31m	-11°18'	178.0°	0.7°

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
2025-08-31 00:00 UT   16 44 35.2   -17 49 55     2.579    2.842   94.5   20.7    98   12.3 
2025-08-31 14:46 UT   16 45 03.3   -17 52 09     2.588    2.843   94.0   20.7    98   12.3 
2025-09-01 00:00 UT   16 45 21.0   -17 53 32     2.594    2.844   93.7   20.7    98   12.4 
2025-09-02 00:00 UT   16 46 07.7   -17 57 08     2.609    2.845   93.0   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-03 00:00 UT   16 46 55.5   -18 00 44     2.624    2.847   92.2   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-04 00:00 UT   16 47 44.3   -18 04 19     2.639    2.848   91.4   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-05 00:00 UT   16 48 34.0   -18 07 54     2.654    2.850   90.7   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-06 00:00 UT   16 49 24.7   -18 11 29     2.669    2.851   89.9   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-07 00:00 UT   16 50 16.3   -18 15 02     2.684    2.853   89.1   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-08 00:00 UT   16 51 08.9   -18 18 35     2.699    2.854   88.4   20.7    97   12.4 
2025-09-09 00:00 UT   16 52 02.4   -18 22 07     2.714    2.856   87.6   20.6    97   12.5 
2025-09-10 00:00 UT   16 52 56.8   -18 25 38     2.729    2.857   86.9   20.6    96   12.5 
2025-09-11 00:00 UT   16 53 52.1   -18 29 08     2.744    2.859   86.1   20.6    96   12.5 
2025-09-12 00:00 UT   16 54 48.3   -18 32 38     2.759    2.860   85.4   20.5    96   12.5 
2025-09-13 00:00 UT   16 55 45.4   -18 36 06     2.774    2.862   84.7   20.5    96   12.5 
2025-09-14 00:00 UT   16 56 43.3   -18 39 32     2.789    2.863   83.9   20.5    96   12.5 
2025-09-15 00:00 UT   16 57 42.1   -18 42 58     2.804    2.864   83.2   20.4    96   12.5 
2025-09-16 00:00 UT   16 58 41.7   -18 46 22     2.819    2.866   82.5   20.4    96   12.5 
2025-09-17 00:00 UT   16 59 42.1   -18 49 45     2.834    2.867   81.7   20.3    95   12.5 
2025-09-18 00:00 UT   17 00 43.4   -18 53 07     2.849    2.869   81.0   20.2    95   12.6 
2025-09-19 00:00 UT   17 01 45.5   -18 56 27     2.864    2.870   80.3   20.2    95   12.6 
2025-09-20 00:00 UT   17 02 48.4   -18 59 45     2.879    2.872   79.5   20.1    95   12.6 
2025-09-21 00:00 UT   17 03 52.0   -19 03 02     2.894    2.873   78.8   20.1    95   12.6 
2025-09-22 00:00 UT   17 04 56.5   -19 06 17     2.908    2.875   78.1   20.0    95   12.6 
2025-09-23 00:00 UT   17 06 01.7   -19 09 30     2.923    2.876   77.4   19.9    95   12.6 
2025-09-24 00:00 UT   17 07 07.6   -19 12 41     2.938    2.877   76.7   19.8    94   12.6 
2025-09-25 00:00 UT   17 08 14.3   -19 15 51     2.953    2.879   76.0   19.8    94   12.6 
2025-09-26 00:00 UT   17 09 21.7   -19 18 58     2.967    2.880   75.3   19.7    94   12.6 
2025-09-27 00:00 UT   17 10 29.8   -19 22 04     2.982    2.882   74.5   19.6    94   12.6 
2025-09-28 00:00 UT   17 11 38.7   -19 25 07     2.996    2.883   73.8   19.5    94   12.7 
2025-09-29 00:00 UT   17 12 48.2   -19 28 08     3.011    2.884   73.1   19.4    94   12.7 
2025-09-30 00:00 UT   17 13 58.4   -19 31 06     3.025    2.886   72.4   19.3    93   12.7 

    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.