(61) Danae
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Jun 2025	12.6	2.544 AU	2.240 AU	22h58m	-13°03'	95.4°	23.4°
Opposition	1 Sep 2025	10.8	2.499 AU	1.490 AU	22h38m	-05°16'	176.9°	1.2°

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 Danae are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1639653
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.9854583
            i (Inclination)                 : 18.20454
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 333.54329
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 12.88161
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 332.19325
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 345.80012
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.99376
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 5.16            
        

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
2025-06-07 00:00 UT   22 58 19.7   -13 03 23     2.240    2.544   95.4   23.4   248   12.6 
2025-06-07 11:00 UT   22 58 40.7   -12 59 36     2.234    2.543   95.7   23.4   248   12.6 
2025-06-08 00:00 UT   22 59 05.2   -12 55 09     2.227    2.543   96.1   23.4   248   12.6 
2025-06-09 00:00 UT   22 59 49.7   -12 46 58     2.213    2.542   96.8   23.4   248   12.6 
2025-06-10 00:00 UT   23 00 33.0   -12 38 50     2.200    2.541   97.6   23.3   248   12.6 
2025-06-11 00:00 UT   23 01 15.3   -12 30 45     2.187    2.541   98.3   23.3   248   12.6 
2025-06-12 00:00 UT   23 01 56.4   -12 22 42     2.174    2.540   99.0   23.3   248   12.6 
2025-06-13 00:00 UT   23 02 36.4   -12 14 43     2.161    2.539   99.8   23.2   248   12.5 
2025-06-14 00:00 UT   23 03 15.2   -12 06 48     2.148    2.538  100.6   23.2   248   12.5 
2025-06-15 00:00 UT   23 03 52.9   -11 58 55     2.135    2.537  101.3   23.1   248   12.5 
2025-06-16 00:00 UT   23 04 29.3   -11 51 06     2.122    2.537  102.1   23.1   248   12.5 
2025-06-17 00:00 UT   23 05 04.6   -11 43 20     2.109    2.536  102.8   23.0   248   12.5 
2025-06-18 00:00 UT   23 05 38.6   -11 35 38     2.096    2.535  103.6   22.9   248   12.5 
2025-06-19 00:00 UT   23 06 11.4   -11 27 59     2.083    2.534  104.4   22.8   249   12.4 
2025-06-20 00:00 UT   23 06 43.0   -11 20 24     2.070    2.534  105.2   22.8   249   12.4 
2025-06-21 00:00 UT   23 07 13.2   -11 12 52     2.057    2.533  106.0   22.7   249   12.4 
2025-06-22 00:00 UT   23 07 42.1   -11 05 24     2.045    2.532  106.8   22.6   249   12.4 
2025-06-23 00:00 UT   23 08 09.8   -10 58 00     2.032    2.531  107.6   22.5   249   12.4 
2025-06-24 00:00 UT   23 08 36.1   -10 50 40     2.019    2.531  108.4   22.4   249   12.4 
2025-06-25 00:00 UT   23 09 01.0   -10 43 24     2.007    2.530  109.2   22.3   249   12.3 
2025-06-26 00:00 UT   23 09 24.5   -10 36 12     1.994    2.529  110.0   22.2   249   12.3 
2025-06-27 00:00 UT   23 09 46.7   -10 29 04     1.982    2.529  110.8   22.1   249   12.3 
2025-06-28 00:00 UT   23 10 07.5   -10 21 59     1.970    2.528  111.7   21.9   249   12.3 
2025-06-29 00:00 UT   23 10 26.8   -10 14 59     1.957    2.527  112.5   21.8   249   12.3 
2025-06-30 00:00 UT   23 10 44.7   -10 08 03     1.945    2.527  113.3   21.7   249   12.3 
2025-07-01 00:00 UT   23 11 01.2   -10 01 12     1.933    2.526  114.2   21.5   249   12.2 
2025-07-02 00:00 UT   23 11 16.2   -09 54 24     1.921    2.525  115.0   21.4   249   12.2 
2025-07-03 00:00 UT   23 11 29.7   -09 47 40     1.909    2.525  115.9   21.2   249   12.2 
2025-07-04 00:00 UT   23 11 41.8   -09 41 01     1.897    2.524  116.7   21.1   249   12.2 
2025-07-05 00:00 UT   23 11 52.3   -09 34 26     1.886    2.523  117.6   20.9   249   12.2 
2025-07-06 00:00 UT   23 12 01.3   -09 27 55     1.874    2.523  118.5   20.7   249   12.1 
2025-07-07 00:00 UT   23 12 08.8   -09 21 29     1.863    2.522  119.4   20.6   249   12.1 

    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.