(341) California
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	6 Apr 2025	14.0	2.386 AU	1.385 AU	13h08m	-05°05'	177.7°	1.0°
Today	9 May 2025	14.8	2.322 AU	1.444 AU	12h37m	-03°26'	141.6°	15.6°

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 California are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1945784
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.1991102
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.66574
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 29.00623
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 293.68475
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 262.80667
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : -37.20563
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -5.18714
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.26            
        

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
2025-05-09 00:00 UT   12 37 22.0   -03 26 03     1.444    2.322  141.6   15.6   114   14.8 
2025-05-09 07:58 UT   12 37 09.9   -03 25 44     1.446    2.321  141.3   15.8   114   14.8 
2025-05-10 00:00 UT   12 36 46.0   -03 25 08     1.450    2.320  140.5   16.1   114   14.8 
2025-05-11 00:00 UT   12 36 11.7   -03 24 22     1.456    2.318  139.4   16.5   114   14.8 
2025-05-12 00:00 UT   12 35 39.2   -03 23 46     1.462    2.316  138.3   16.9   114   14.8 
2025-05-13 00:00 UT   12 35 08.4   -03 23 21     1.468    2.314  137.3   17.2   114   14.9 
2025-05-14 00:00 UT   12 34 39.5   -03 23 05     1.474    2.312  136.2   17.6   113   14.9 
2025-05-15 00:00 UT   12 34 12.4   -03 22 60     1.480    2.309  135.1   18.0   113   14.9 
2025-05-16 00:00 UT   12 33 47.0   -03 23 05     1.487    2.307  134.1   18.4   113   14.9 
2025-05-17 00:00 UT   12 33 23.5   -03 23 20     1.494    2.305  133.0   18.7   113   14.9 
2025-05-18 00:00 UT   12 33 01.9   -03 23 46     1.501    2.303  132.0   19.1   113   15.0 
2025-05-19 00:00 UT   12 32 42.1   -03 24 22     1.508    2.301  130.9   19.4   113   15.0 
2025-05-20 00:00 UT   12 32 24.1   -03 25 08     1.515    2.299  129.9   19.7   113   15.0 
2025-05-21 00:00 UT   12 32 08.0   -03 26 04     1.522    2.297  128.9   20.1   113   15.0 
2025-05-22 00:00 UT   12 31 53.7   -03 27 11     1.530    2.295  127.9   20.4   113   15.0 
2025-05-23 00:00 UT   12 31 41.3   -03 28 28     1.537    2.293  126.9   20.7   113   15.1 
2025-05-24 00:00 UT   12 31 30.7   -03 29 56     1.545    2.291  125.9   21.0   113   15.1 
2025-05-25 00:00 UT   12 31 22.0   -03 31 33     1.553    2.288  124.9   21.3   113   15.1 
2025-05-26 00:00 UT   12 31 15.1   -03 33 21     1.561    2.286  123.9   21.6   113   15.1 
2025-05-27 00:00 UT   12 31 10.1   -03 35 20     1.569    2.284  122.9   21.9   113   15.1 
2025-05-28 00:00 UT   12 31 06.9   -03 37 28     1.577    2.282  122.0   22.1   113   15.1 
2025-05-29 00:00 UT   12 31 05.5   -03 39 47     1.586    2.280  121.0   22.4   113   15.2 
2025-05-30 00:00 UT   12 31 06.0   -03 42 15     1.594    2.278  120.1   22.6   113   15.2 
2025-05-31 00:00 UT   12 31 08.2   -03 44 54     1.602    2.276  119.2   22.9   113   15.2 
2025-06-01 00:00 UT   12 31 12.3   -03 47 42     1.611    2.274  118.2   23.1   113   15.2 
2025-06-02 00:00 UT   12 31 18.1   -03 50 41     1.620    2.271  117.3   23.4   113   15.2 
2025-06-03 00:00 UT   12 31 25.7   -03 53 49     1.628    2.269  116.4   23.6   113   15.2 
2025-06-04 00:00 UT   12 31 35.1   -03 57 06     1.637    2.267  115.5   23.8   113   15.3 
2025-06-05 00:00 UT   12 31 46.1   -04 00 33     1.646    2.265  114.6   24.0   113   15.3 
2025-06-06 00:00 UT   12 31 58.9   -04 04 09     1.655    2.263  113.7   24.2   113   15.3 
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   12 32 13.4   -04 07 55     1.664    2.261  112.9   24.4   113   15.3 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   12 32 29.5   -04 11 49     1.673    2.258  112.0   24.6   113   15.3 

    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.